Wonderful Nightmare
by GlassAlice
Summary: Show business isn't all Sunshine and butterflies, sometimes weird blue haired boys break into your house, sometimes the guy next door has a personality that doesn't match his looks,and Maka's life just happens to have both and a whole lot more. MakaXSoul
1. The Nightmare Begins

**_Alice: Okay! So i know first thing that pops into your head when you read the title of this story is, "Man that sounds corny." And I know, it does, and I like it that way. Embrace the corny-ness and embrace the greatness(hopefully) that is MY FIRST SOUL EATER FAN FIC! _**

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**_Chapter 1: The "Thing" next Door_**

"You have four photo shoots tomorrow morning and afternoon, and an interview for a special in a magazine tomorrow afternoon. Nighttime dinner with other contractees and then the magazine interview results will be announced the next morning. Sound good to you?"

"Is it supposed to sound bad?"

"Well I just worry for you lately Maka!"

"Alright alright, I'll take it easy soon. I promise."

"You always say that but we keep on getting deals left and right so you're never able to."

"Isn't that supposed to be a good thing?"

"But-"

"Ah, is this it?"

"Hmm?"

A tall modern looking building stood in front of the two women, the sun rising just in front of the building brought out its brilliant look.

"Just like the pictures!"

The woman with blonde long hair, Marie, exclaimed excited for her partner.

"Uwaaa~"

The girl with two brown pigtails, Maka Albarn, stood amazed at the sight with her.

"Ooh! Let's go let's go! You're on the seventh floor Maka!" Marie ran in front of Maka and pulled her along up through the gates around the building and into the front glass ornate handled doors.

"What's the rush?" Maka almost tripped as Marie pulled her along.

"OO! Aren't you excited though?!" Marie stopped right in front of the elevator and pushed the button, all the while pouting.

"Yeah, it is kind of exciting." Maka chuckled softly and stepped onto the elevator when it arrived.

"Okay Maka! Hope you enjoy your room!" Marie tossed the key with the room number on it to Maka on the elevator and stepped off.

"Hey wait! Where are you going?!" Maka looked the keys confused. The doors of the elevator started to closing.

"Don't forget to say hello to your neighbors! Meeting with them for the first time tomorrow night will be awkward right? Promise me! Bye Bye Maka!" Marie had spoken quickly and left the doors of the elevator.

"Marie Wait!" Maka tried to chase after her but the doors closed before she could react.

"...

Oh well."

The elevator played a new hit song by a recently popular artist.

"Ah! Marie likes this song right? I think it was called 'Monster' by Something Eating…hmm who was it again?"

The elevator dinged onto Maka's floor.

"Oh!"

Maka stepped off the elevator and quickly walked off towards her new apartment.

The elevator playing the slow, powerful song closed. The singer of the song's strong, raspy voice echoed away.

Maka stopped in front of room number.

"Apartment number 707. Just like the key says," Maka used the silver key to open the door, and she took a big whiff of her new place, "Not bad."

The apartment featured a modern sort of look, with tan walls, wood flooring, a bathtub plus shower in the bathroom, a smaller than average sized living room and a full working kitchen with all utilities included.

"No bedroom?" Maka looked around the living room and found a sliding door closet with what looked like a futon inside. "A Japanese styled futon? Not bad at all." Maka grinned to herself and set her red duffle bag down. Her moving boxes were all in the closet as well; she pulled all five of the small boxes out and looked around the room.

"Makes me notice exactly how many things I don't have," Maka sighed, "At least it's less unpacking though." Something caught Maka's eye in the closet in the very back behind her last box. "A table?"

Maka reached in and pulled it out. It was a wooden, low to the ground, table.

"They still make these?" Maka put it down in the middle of the room and pulled out a floor pillow and sat down. "Feels like I'm in some kind of tea house." Maka laid head onto the table and stretched. A few moments of silence passed before Maka swung back up into sitting position. "Time to unpack!" She yelled.

She walked over to one of her boxes and started to tear off the tape when she remembered Marie's words.

"Greet the neighbors?

…

It won't take long right?"

Maka stood up hesitantly and paused before walking towards the door.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" She walked out of her room and didn't bother to lock the door; she thought maybe that would make it so that there would be an excuse if they tried to invite her in.

"Oh sorry, I didn't lock my door, I really must be going." Maka practiced.

First she tried Apartment 706. She rang the door bell and stood in front of the door for some moments.

Maka read the name under the room number on the wall, "Not here, Ox? Fine with me," Maka smiled and looked towards room 708. "One down, one to go." She walked to Apartment 709's door and though she was already feeling stupid, she rang the door bell.

Almost immediately, she heard a crash come from inside, followed by some bangs as the aftermath.

"Hmm?" Maka thought that meant they were coming but a few seconds passed and she heard nothing else. She shrugged and shifted her heel to walk back to her apartment when the door flung open.

"Yeah?"

Maka flinched as she stared at the person who opened the door.

A guy with white hair and deep red eyes, taller than her but just a little bigger than her slim physique, seeing as how he was well built.

This was not exactly what shocked Maka though, what shocked Maka was that he was both dripping wet and stark naked, except for the white towel around his waist that looked like it could fall off at anytime.

Maka deverted her eyes to the name plate under his room number.

"Soul…Eater?" She questioned it as if it wasn't true, though she knew it had to be.

"Yeah?" The guy grumbled, slightly annoyed. Maka couldn't answer, all she could do was try to make her mind assess the situation quickly before that towel slid off.

The guy, Soul Eater, stared at her now, leaning in slightly, gaining concentration.

"Soul! Hurry! The bubbles are popping and I'm getting impatient." A woman's voice, one would describe as sexy, yelled from inside the apartment, breaking Soul Eater's concentration. He tsked and turned his head towards the voice.

"I got it." He replied coolly.

Maka stood almost starstruck.

"I gotta go, try not to lose your way home little puppy." He smirked and shut the door in her face.

Maka stared at the door.

It was like her brain shut down completely in the short minute that he had opened and then closed the door.

She zombie-ly walked back towards her apartment door.

She raised her foot backwards and kicked the wall, making a loud bang vibrate through the wall.

"Argh! What was that?!" She huffed madly, yet cutely before opening her door and walking inside.

The door to room 708 opened again, slowly this time.

Soul Eater looked out towards apartment 707. He grinned…and shut the door.

Maka slumped down onto the floor, she had just finished unpacking, at last. The rain had gotten heavy and it was no longer bright outside, just a sea of darkness.

Maka took a shower and changed into a large t-shirt with shorts. Still wet, she dried off her hair and sat at the table for awhile. Eating noodles before putting the table back into the closet to make room for her futon. She layed it out, sighed and fell into bed.

A clash of thunder roared outside and woke her up.

"Thristy…" She mumbled as she slumped to the fridge and got some water from a water bottle she had brought with her in her duffle bag.

She took a gulp but as soon as she did, a large object seemed to hit her window and landed on her small sized patio.

The crash made her spit out her water that she was in the process of drinking.

She slowly looked towards the sliding window for movement.

A lightning bolt struck and lit up the window, reaveling the shadow of some kind of person outside the window.

"Soooouuullll~~~~~~~" The shadow growled wearily.

"A ghost, definitely a ghost, just ignore it Maka." Maka spoke to herself as she tried to take another drink of water.

"Sooooouuuullll~~~~~! Open the window or I'll just break in on my own!" The voice slurred and Maka spit out her water and ran towards the window, unlocking and sliding it open as fast as she could. "Helloooo~" The wet person fell onto Maka and she squirmed to keep him upright.

"Who are you?" Maka questioned.

"You don't remember me Soul? Why are you so mean?!" The guy stood up and swung his arms around wildly.

"Where did you come from?" Maka continued her questions.

"Apartment 808! You forgot?! You've been there a buncha times." The guy pouted.

"Right above mine huh?" Maka looked at her ceiling but was pulled to the ground when the guy grabbed onto her legs.

"I only had one drink! I swear! It wasn't even my fault! He slipped it to me! Tricked me! The great Black Star!" The guy started weeping now.

"Alright Alright!" Maka yelled, "Get off!"

"Soooouuulll~"

Maka couldn't stand it anymore, she used all her strength to drag him towards the door quickly, standing him up and placing him outside the door.

"Go home!" Maka ordered him before shutting the door.

She started to walk back to her bed when she heard a slam outside her door.

She looked towards the door and walked over to open it, the guy slumped in.

She sighed, "808 right?"

Maka trudged towards the elevator with one of the guy's arms slung over her shoulder. She pushed the elevator button and it opened right away, to her relief. She stepped on and pressed for floor eight. It would have been an easy trip if someone from a lower floor hadn't pressed to go to floor eight as well apparently, because the elevator started moving down, which rarely happens in elevators.

"Great." Maka mumbled.

The same song, 'Monster', started to play again.

"It's your song Soul!!!" The guy started grinning and jumping around.

"Okay Okay!" Maka tried to calm him down.

"It's such a good song! Of course the greaaaat Black Star will not admit defeat!" The guy pulled away from Maka and grinned.

Maka got a good look at his face now, tanish skin, same height as her, definitely worked out. Spikey blue hair and a weird colored pair of eyes.

"Yeah Yeah." Maka decided that now was not the time to stare at his figure.

The door dinged open and a guy with black hair and some odd white stripes on it was on the other side.

He stared at Maka and the wet boy slugged over her for a moment, emotionless in his black and white tux, before stepping on. He noticed that the button for floor eight was already lit up and looked back at Maka, eyeing her before saying, "Same floor?"

"Huh? Uh…Yeah." Maka awkwardly answered.

The song 'Monster' continued to play, the solo piano in the background of the song was the only thing Maka really noticed to be something she 'liked.'

The elevator reached floor 6 now.

The guy looked back, his pale face and golden eyes provided him with a fierce appearance that matched his words, "When you two get back to your room, I suggest you clean each other up before going to bed. You both smell like wet dog."

The elevator dinged onto floor 8. The boy walked off and right, towards the stairs.

Maka stared at him as he did so and she slugged off the elevator with guy in tow.

She yelled out, "Like this is what I had planned for today!"

She mumbled and grumbled the rest of the way towards apartment 808.

"Here I was trying to be a nice person.

I could've just left him out on the terrace."

She continued to comment until she arrived at her destination.

"Where's your key?" Maka asked her baggage.

"Just knock on the door, they should still be there. In fact, why don't you join us Soul?" He slurred.

"No thanks." Maka replied quickly.

Maka slumped back into her room, tired from the mess that just happened.

She had left the blue haired guy with his senior, supposedly, in his room.

"Black Star was his name huh? His friends said he comes down a lot from his room, onto room's below his. So this might happen again huh?"

Maka sat in silence.

And sighed.

"Blegh! Gotta take another shower." Maka trudged herself to the shower before going to sleep yet again.

Maka woke up to a ring of her phone.

"Hmm? Hello this is Maka speaking."

"Maka! Good Morning! Thought I'd wake you up an hour earlier than your usually time so get ready. I'm coming to get you right now."

It was Marie, Maka's Manager.

"Alright, I got it and good morning to you too."

Maka hung up the phone and got dressed before walking out the door. She locked her apartment door and made her way to the elevator; glancing at apartment 708 on the way.

Maka huffed at it before continuing on to the elevator.

"That's great Maka-baby!"

The photographer chanted while the clicking of his camera filled the room.

"Give me sassy! Give me sexy! Give me flirty!"

"What the hell does he want?" Maka mumbled to herself before doing exactly as he asked.

She was doing a monochrome shoot right now, the last one of the day.

Dressed in dark blue jeans, a white pinstripe elbow length sleeve shirt with frills coming from the collar, black suspenders and a long silver chain with a black key on it; Maka shifted her hand through her hair, it was combed back for the shoot, and with a few lose bang hairs, it gave her a more seductive look.

"Give me those lovely witty eyes!" The photographer cooed.

Maka followed his directions and narrowed her eyes, shifted her head to the side slightly and looked toward the camera from the edge of her eyes.

The photographer stood in shock for a moment before steadily holding up his camera and snapping one last photo.

"That's it Maka. You can stop now."

Maka stopped and walked over to the refreshment table. A pair of black heels walked up to her.

"Manager?"

"Wah! Maka! Stop!" Marie took the towel she had brought with her and patted the sweat from Maka's neck.

"Stop what?"

"You keep giving people the sexy eyes!" Marie signaled towards the group of workers who jumped when Maka looked over at them, fidgeting in anxiousness under her gaze. "You really can't get out of the zone when you've just stopped working huh?"

"The director says that's a good thing."

"Yes yes, I know Stein said that but still."

"It's _Director_ when you're working, _Manager_." Maka was always the formal type when it dealt with her profession.

"Oh, right." Marie chuckled a bit but was a bit disappointed, "Anyway, I came to tell you that the interview was postponed for tomorrow instead. So we'll be heading out to dinner now."

"Okay, I'll change and I'll be right out." Maka walked towards the dressing room but turned around before she walked in. Giving Marie a grin and a thumbs up.

Marie flinched at the sudden action, but then grinned and did the same thing back. Maka headed into the dressing room.

"It's starting," Marie mumbled.

"Yes, we have a meeting here today. Key word," Marie looked around before whispering, "_Cool_."

"Key word?" Maka questioned the weird words Marie just used with the waitress at the entrance of the Restaurant: a classy place with a modern red and wood theme.

"Of course, we are meeting with a big star today after all," Marie whispered.

"We are?" Maka followed suit and whispered back.

"Yep, a huuuuge star! I can't wait to meet him!" Marie grinned as she followed the waitress through booths and table, up to the beginning of a staircase that seemed to lead to a loft looking over the whole restaurant with Maka close behind her of course.

"Enjoy." The waitress turned beet red before stumbling off.

"Enjoy? The food? I intend to." Maka confusingly stated.

"Come On Come On!" Marie tugged Maka up the stairs, almost making her trip in her black heels and dress. They reached the top of the stairs and Marie stopped right then so Maka wasn't able to see who she was saying, 'A pleasure to meet you, I am Marie, Maka's Manager,' too.

Marie stepped aside giddily and while Maka looked at her confused, she climbed the final step of the staircase and looked towards the two people sitting in the sitting area.

Maka flinched in surprise and once again stood like she had just stepped into a 'No Tresspassing' zone.

"Maka right? I'm the great Black Star! If you beg, I'll be willing to let you become my minion right here and now."

A hyper, blue-haired, weird eyed guy grinned at Maka, with a casual looking tank top with a various pattern and whitish tan dress pant. A shock that could drive Maka to drastic measures very quickly had appeared in front of her again.

And one more…

"Oh? Little Puppy? I see you found your way to more than just home."

There, in all his black and red suit glory, sat the resident of Apartment 708.

"Maka, this is _Soul Eater_."

_Let the Nightmare begin._

_

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**Alice: That's it for now! Thanks for reading! Please do Review.**_


	2. Partners in Crime

**_Alice: Here's Chapter two of "Wonderful Nightmare." And how wonderful it is indeed haha!_**

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**_Chapter 2: Partner in Crime_**

"Eater? Soul…"

"No no, it's _Soul Eater _Maka."

"Soul Eating?"

"It's _Soul Eater_," The guy grinned.

Maka stood in place and just stared at _Soul Eater's_ deep red eyes as Marie sat down across from them on the red leather lounge chairs.

"Come Maka, sit sit." Marie grinned excitedly as she smiled like a loyal fan at Soul Eater.

Maka bit her lip and shuffled over to the chair next to Marie, sitting down with a _pluff _sound.

"So where's the President?" Marie looked around expecting the President to pop out of nowhere.

"He's not coming." Soul Eater shrugged.

"Why?" Marie leaned in towards Soul Eater's chair.

"He's way too busy to deal with small fry like you," Black star had spoken up and his phrase was obviously directed at Maka.

Maka flinched, "Even when the _great Black Star_ is here he didn't even come, so that means you're just a low ranking small fry like me," Maka huffed at him, remembering his boasting from the night before, and using it to her advantage.

Black Star exclaimed back, "I have _great_ in front of my name!"

"So what? You're great but not the best." Maka laughed.

Black Star's jaw dropped and his went pale white thinking that she was exactly right.

Maka couldn't contain her laughter and busted out, it was too funny for her to handle.

"Your defeated face is hilarious!" Maka laughed out loud.

"Maka!" Marie scolded her and Maka's laughter was immediately put down.

"Ah…Sorry," Maka smiled rubbed the back of her head apologetically, "I haven't laughed in such a long time so…"

Black Star returned to his great self and exclaimed, "Alright then! I accept you as my rival and one of the same rank as the great me!" Black Star ran over to Maka's chair and held up his arm.

Maka stared at his hand for a moment, before admitting defeat, smiling widely and hi-fiving his hand.

"Yahoo!" Black Star bounced back to his seat, giddy.

"So that's your type?" Maka's smile ceased as she turned towards the voice.

"Type?" Maka raised her eyebrow.

Soul stared at Maka for a few moments before answering, "You don't even know your type? Definitely not cool." Soul huffed.

"I really don't care if you think I'm cool or not," Maka scowled.

Marie sighed after snapping out of celebrity love love mode and explained, "What he means is that in our wonderful Shibusen Talent Agency, there are a great many people, and with them come a great many different appeals. Each one of our talents has a certain aspect about them that draws the pubic in and when nurtured correctly by the agency, becomes what defines their 'type.' Think of it as the thing that is your selling point, like with Soul, it's his overall coolness. He's defined as the 'bad boy' type."

Maka looked over at Soul Eater, her eyes traced up and down his body, "I see what you mean," Maka replied, still staring at Soul Eater, "but to me it's more of the 'Arrogant Bastard' type."

Soul Eater growled at his new 'type' name given to him by Maka but shrugged it off in the end.

Marie decided to ignore Maka's little comment and continued on, "Black Star is the 'Fresh' type, just being around him give people the feeling of living in the moment, like the very first breath you took when you were first born, a type of freshness that can't be compared to anything." Marie grinned widely.

Black Star simply nodded as she had spoken, affirming just how great he was.

"So what's my type?" Maka stared expectantly.

"Well that's something you have to figure out for yourself Maka," Marie resisted Maka's puppy eyes.

Maka pouted before shrugging and saying out loud, "Then I'll just have to wait and find out then, looking forward to working with you in the future Marie." Maka grinned.

"Same here." All of a sudden a hand was outstretched towards Maka, open palm.

"Eh?" Maka traced the hand back to its owner with her eyes.

"Just call me Soul; it's not cool to just keep on calling me by my full name all the time, ruins my image." Soul continued to hold out his hand.

Maka stared at it before finally reaching out but before she could grab it.

"To slow," Soul retracted his hand quickly, leaving Maka hanging. Soul smirked at her dumbfounded look.

"What is he? Five?" Maka mumbled to herself angrily.

"Soul," Marie interjected before Maka was about to grab the nearest item to deliver some punishment, "You must watch over Maka for me. Make sure that no one comes by at night and causes scandals and such, after all, even if they were our talents, a woman and a man in the same room alone together at night will definitely be severely punished by the President of Shibusen."

Maka thought for a moment before thinking up a most interesting thought, she grinned very wide now, and held her hand out to Soul, requesting another try for a handshake. Soul chuckled and didn't lift even one of his fingers.

Eager as she was, Maka leaned forward, her hand still out reached towards him.

"_Soul Hurry~ The bubbles are popping and I'm getting impatient_." Maka whispered in his direction, just enough for him to hear.

Soul's eyes immediately widened.

Maka turned towards Marie and asked, "So Marie, suppose I happened to see exactly what you just described. What punishment would they receive?"

Marie retorted almost immediately, "Of course the President would be so mad that the romance was kept under wraps that he would deal out his worst punishment!"

"Funny, because I saw that exact thing just-"

Before Maka could even finish her sentence, Soul's hand was in hers, shaking it widely.

Maka grinned in triumph.

The drinks had already been served, and the party of four had all moved to the table for four next to the lounge area.

Across from Maka sat Soul, next to Soul sat Black star, and across from Black Star sat Marie.

Marie took a sip of her drink, "It's like the thing that soothes a broken soul."

"Wine?! I want a taste!" Black Star urged her.

"No no, you're too young for this Black Star. I would be in trouble if they found out that I gave you alcohol. Especially if you happened to get drunk off of it." Marie shook her head no furiously.

"Like that's not happened already." Soul laughed.

Marie immediately stood up from her chair and looked towards Black Star, "You've gotten drunk before?! What am I going to tell your manager?!"

"Huh? She already knows. Besides, as long as Soul helps me out again like he did last night, it'll be fine." Black Star grinned towards the confused Soul.

Soul raised his eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

"You know!" Black Star nudged Soul, "For the first time ever, you actually helped me back to my room. I was so touched! Usually you just kick me out and tell me that you're tired and to leave you alone! But this time, you actually helped me! I knew you were a true friend!" Black Star's grin grew wider as happy tears started to form in his eyes.

Soul stared at him, with that one eyebrow still raised in confusion, "I'm telling you man, I didn't even see you last night like usual."

"What? I would recognize that sweet strawberry colon anywhere!" Black Star sniffed the air, "Yep it's you!"

Soul grew frustrated, "I'm telling you it wasn't. And what kind of cool guy wears sweet strawberry colon? That's more like how a girl would smell."

Maka, who was until now trying to stay out of the conversation, flinched a bit as she tried to take a sip of her drink.

"No no no!" Black Star yelled, "I'm telling you! You smelled sweet, and you had soft shoulders, a small build. Just like this!" Black Star got up and subjected Soul to his embrace. Black Star was grinning for awhile, but then it started to fade, and he blinked a few times before stepping back from Soul and thinking, "What happened to you soft hair and slim shoulders Soul? And what's that weird colon smell?"

Maka turned away from the scene.

"I already said, it wasn't me last night. You must have climbed down to someone else's room." Soul sighed but then Maka's fidgeting caught his eye. "Hey, Black Star, you smelled strawberries right?"

"Yeah! I even smell it now! But that's weird." Black Star sat back down.

"And you said I had soft hair and slim shoulders…Was my chest weirdly soft and comfortable as well?" S

Marie almost spit out her drink at Soul's words mid-drink, "Wh-What?"

"Hmm, come to think of it…Yeah! It was!" Black Star replied.

Maka flinched and looked down at her drink on the table, trying hard just to slip away from existence.

"So really, that's a girl's features right? Isn't it way beyond the rules to sneak down to a girl's room at night?" Soul smirked, staring at Maka now.

"Don't say that Soul! Black Star would be punished for that! And so would the girl!" Marie spouted.

"Even if it was an accident?" Black Star pouted.

"Of course!" Mari yelled.

Maka was sweating a bit now and the one who noticed it all was the last person who she would've liked to have noticed at all.

Maka flinched at the feeling of something rubbing her leg, she looked up and noticed the obviously leaned in, smirking Soul.

"Nice to meet you, Partner in crime." Soul's red eyes flickered with excitement.

Maka huffed back, "I have no clue what you're talking about."

Marie was confused but was still able to put out a statement that could tense the situation even more, "You guys take care of each other alright?"

"Of course!" Black Star yelled.

"Of-" Before Soul could answer, a high heel hit him in the knee. And he stifled the pain.

"Of course," Maka grinned without look at the obviously furious Soul.

The waiter came with a plate of food. "Your meals are served."

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**_Alice: Reviews are always welcome! Thanks for reading chapter two of "Wonderful Nightmare."_**


	3. My Idol

**_Alice: Oh! Finally the third chapter! I hope you all enjoy it!_**

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**_Chapter 3: My Idol_**

"I really must thank you for visiting us today Miss Maka," The reporter smiled widely at Maka, who was sitting across from him on a lounge chair.

"Really, there's no reason to thank me." Maka shook her head at him, trying to act shy.

"No really! I must!" Apparently the reporter was a big fan of hers.

Maka grunted to herself, upset at the obvious over exaggeration of the situation at hand, "No really, it's no big deal." She did all she could to stop herself from glaring at him.

"So, Miss Maka, now that all the main questions have been put aside, I would like to ask one more question before you go."

"Yes?" Maka calmed herself and looked at the reporter with curiosity.

"You really must be excited right?" The reporter leaned in and whispered to her.

Maka leaned in and whispered back, "About what?"

The reporter gasped, almost like it was obvious that she would know.

"You know." The reporter laughed out loud and Maka stared at him. "You do know…right?"

"Hmm?" Maka raised her eyebrow.

"That whoever is able to make it past the audition phase of the magazine will be able to compete for the part in the commercial in the secondary audition."

"Yes, I know." Maka nodded her head yes.

"And that the partner of everyone who passes this audition gets to act out with a select celebrity guest."

"Yes, that's right." Maka nodded yes once more, not expecting what the reporter would say next.

"And that celebrity guest is…Soul Eater!!! You must have entered this audition because you are a fan as well yes?"

Maka flinched and her jaw dropped, "Huh?!"

"So my last question would be, of course, are you also interested in becoming an item with the famed singer Soul Eater?" The reporter almost bounced around in his seat.

"Huh?!"

"I was sure I told you that part." Mari, Maka's manager questioned herself.

"Did not." Maka grunted, walking up to her apartment complex.

"I'm really sure I did!" Mari insisted.

"Did not!" Maka yelled back.

Mari gasped, "Wait! Don't tell me you aren't going to take part in the secondary audition if you get selected because of that?! You're too embarrassed to work with your idol and you're giving up?!"

"My idol!" Maka almost gagged at the thought of the word, then she calmed, as she should, and sighed. "I refuse to lose a job just because he's a part of it, are you crazy?"

Mari was confused, "Then why are you complaining?"

"All preparation, because once I take this job, if I make it of course, I will not allow myself to complain," Maka turned towards Mari, "So just this once, let me complain okay, Manager?" Maka smiled and stepped onto the elevator.

Mari grinned, full of pride, "Oh Maka! You've grown so much!" Before Mari could reach out and hug her, the elevator doors closed. Maka laughed and looked up at the ascending numbers that flashed atop the elevator doors.

"Here we go!" Maka did some stretch exercises and bended her knees a few times, "All in preparation, yep."

_It's been about a week since I've moved into apartment 707. Nothing special about my work schedule has changed; just that my private life has taken quite a bit…of a turn, you could say. _

"Here we go!" Maka inserted her key into the keyhole and opened the door to her apartment. "All clear." She sighed a sigh of relief and shut the door behind her. She slumped up next to it after setting her bag down. She closed her eyes and-

She jumped startled; a loud banging came from the outside of her door. She took off her shoes and turned towards the door, "Yes?" Her eyes widened and she grunted, "How did he know?"

"I hear you're back! So how'd the audition go?" Black Star busted into her apartment, again for the fifth time in the last week, without being invited in in the first place.

"Yes, welcome again Black Star," Maka grinned and said sarcastically.

Black Star walked into the middle room and looked around. "Yo! I'm going to the bathroom kay! Just remembered I've been holding it!"

"You remember after you come over?" Maka sighed and attempted to sit down when another bang on the door made her flinch. "Coming!" She yelled.

She shuffled over to the door and opened it.

"Hey, I've brought the drinks."

Maka saw it coming, but just this once, she had hoped that recording would make him late getting back to the apartment complex, but of course that never happens with the perfect, one try, one recording Soul Eater.

"Recording on schedule," Maka skipped all the other questions she was asking the week before when he suddenly starting coming over and got straight to the point.

"Of course, I always get it on the first try, you know that." Soul grinned and pushed past her, carrying a bag of what appeared to be beer.

"Of course you do." Maka huffed, closing the door behind him. He slipped off his shoes and sat the bag of drinks down onto the table in the living room.

The bathroom door made a noise as it slid open, "Black Star?" Soul turned towards Maka and asked.

"Yeah." She replied.

Black Star came out rubbing the back of his head dreamily, until he spotted Soul that is. He immediately got a huge grin on his face and ran up to him, holding up his hand for a high five, which Soul gave almost without any pause.

"Yahoo!" Black Star yelled out. He grinned ear to ear, and the ruffling of the bag on the table made him grin even wider. "Oh! Soul! You didn't!" He smiled like a kid getting a gift from Santa on Christmas.

"I did, I did." Soul nodded his head and smirked; he sat down on a cushion and grabbed a drink from the bag. He tossed it over to Black Star across from him.

"It's the good stuff!!!" Black Star opened it quickly and took a sip, "Ahh~"

Maka sat to the right of Soul, facing the door of the apartment. Soul opened up a can for himself and took a sip before looking at Maka.

Maka was amused at Black Star's face when the sudden calling of name made her jump.

"Maka." Maka turned to Soul.

"What?" She huffed.

"Drink?" Soul tilted his head to the side as he rested his chin onto the table. The way he looked up at her made her self-conscious.

Maka shook her head no, "I don't drink alcho-"

Before she could even finish, Soul sat straight back up again and tossed her a pink can.

Maka fumbled with it before getting a steady grip on it, she read the side, "Strawberry Milk?" She looked back at Soul. He smirked his ever annoying grin and took another sip of his beer before talking small talk with Black Star.

Maka popped the cap and took a sip; she paused for a moment before looking back up at Soul, grinning as he was with Black Star.

"Hmm," She looked back down, "It tastes sweet."

"And then I busted out and beat him like no tomorrow! You should've been there Soul!" Black Star, now drunk, was making punching motions into the air, telling of his great heroics.

"That right?" Soul grinned, not drunk at all.

"Oh oh Oh!" Black Star grabbed onto Maka's shoulders, "The audition went well right! I know it went well because I am the great Black Star, and you! You are," Black Star pointed out the window, towards the stars, "You are the great Maka!" He grinned.

Maka turned towards him, his arm was slung over her shoulder and his face close enough for her to feel it's warmth. "Yeah, yeah." Maka pushed him away and he landed on his back, fidgeting around like a turtle flipped over onto its shell.

Soul finished his fourth beer and took a deep breath. Black Star immediately sat up straight and whispered to Maka, "Shh! Here it comes! The genius that is Soul!" Maka raised her eyebrow.

Her eyes met with Soul's before he uttered, "Just for you guys."

Maka didn't think it was anything to pay attention to, since she had heard his song a million times in the elevator, but a live performance was definitely a different experience.

His first note rang in her ears, her head jerked towards him to listen.

He closed his eyes and opened again slowly.

Maka couldn't take her eyes off his lips as they formed each one of the mysterious lyrics to his song.

His breathing was steady, his voice hoarse, but somehow it was better that way.

Maka was in a daze, forgetting to take another sip of her drink.

How much of the song he actually sang? Maka wouldn't know, she was in a daze at his first word afterall, the mixture of them all together knocked her into dreamland for good.

"Yahoo~" Black Star clapped over and over.

Maka continued to stare at Soul, not shifting her eyes once.

"That was the goodbye performance guys, see you tomorrow." Soul stood up and grabbed the empty cans, putting them into the bag he brought with him.

"Bye bye Maka!!!" Black Star stumbled out of the door, Soul followed behind him.

Soul was about to close the door when he noticed Maka was still out of it, sitting at the table. He walked back into the apartment and shut the door behind him.

"Hey, Maka?" He got up close to her face and flicked her bangs around before she finally looked at him.

Her hair stood on end as she got up quickly and pushed him out the door, "Okay! Good Night! See You Later!" She closed the door behind him and locked it. She stared at the door for a moment before slamming her head into it and falling on the ground in pain.

"My Idol?" Maka questioned, frustrated at herself, slightly pink in the face.

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**_Alice: That's it for now! Next chapter should be up soon! The grueling competition is up next! Review!_**


	4. Lucky Number 7

**_Alice: Alright! So here's chapter four of "Wonderful Nightmare!" I really hope it answers some of the questions from the last chapter! Read on man! Haha_**

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_**Chapter Four: Lucky Number 7**_

"There's really no fighting it is there?" Maka stood, dumbfounded, after just coming back home from getting some food from the snack machine on floor five.

_At least it doesn't freak me out anymore that he just appears here. _

"Yo Maka!" Black Star was there, sitting at her living room table, starting up with the same greeting as always.

"How'd you get in by yourself again?" Maka sighed as she walked into the kitchen and got out two cups for them both.

"Oh! I almost had to break the door this time! But the landlady from floor four helped me out." Black Star grinned.

"Now people are beginning to help you?" Maka grunted.

_He's back again; does he really have nothing else to do? Especially on my day off to. If I hadn't opened the door for him last night, I really wonder what he would've broken that time. _

"You know Maka; it always smells really girly in here. Soul says it dampens his coolness level and that you should make it muskier in here." Black Star layed down on the floor.

"Than you should stop breaking and entering and just leave me alone," is what Maka really wanted to say, but she was too tired to retort.

_At least his accomplice, Soul, doesn't appear out of nowhere like him._

A knock on the door drew Maka's attention from the complaining Black Star.

Maka was about to make her way towards it when she remembered, "If Black Star is here, then the other one always follows."

She decided to ignore it.

The knocking got louder.

"You're not gonna answer that Maka?" Black Star sat up, "Then the great Black Star will get it for you!" Black Star got up quickly.

Maka immediately grabbed the nearest book off of her book shelf and threw it at his face. She closed the living room door behind her and ran to the front door, opening it with haste and showing a fake smile to the man at the door.

"Yes?"

"Letter here for Miss Maka." It was a postman wearing a brown jumpsuit.

"Oh thanks." Maka signed what he told her to sign and took the letter from him.

Maka shut the door behind her and walked slowly back into the living room. When she slid the door open, Black Star was still on the floor, rolling around and gripping his forehead.

She sat down at the table and put the letter down. She stared at it for a moment before picking it up again and ripping it open at the fold. She unfolded the pink slip inside and read the first word written on it out loud.

"Congrats." Maka said emotionless. She didn't have to read the rest to know what the letter was going to say, her head slammed down onto the table for lack of a better reaction for her to have.

Black Star immediately shot up from his rolling position and scooted over next to Maka, slipping the letter out from under her. His eyes scanned it and he got a smirk so wide it should be criminal spread across his face. "The Unbeatable team is forming! I must train harder so that I don't lose to Soul!" He dropped the letter down and ran towards the window, opening it and climbing through before shutting it behind him.

Maka watched him from her head on the table while he did it before grunting to herself and shaking her head no.

"Mr. Cool is going to ruin my day yet again."

**OOO**

"Isn't he just too cool?" Marie almost leapt for joy as Soul got out of the Shibusen bus in front of the TV station.

"Yeah, he's Mr. Cool," Maka said sarcastically.

Soul was wearing a black headband, a black tank top undershirt and an orange tank top with a Shibusen brand 'Weapon' design on it on top. Which he topped all off with some black baggy jeans. His hands in his pockets and his slumped over shoulders just screamed, 'Cool.'

Maka sighed, she was wearing her hair back in a loose ponytail, with her bangs still out, combed to look straight by Marie, with hair clip with a string of cherry blossoms hanging from it where her ponytail started. She was wearing a light pink dress with short frills at the bottom and a Shibusen 'Meister' design on it, a light brown loose scarf and a long chain with white beads on it, all topped off with a pair of light brown boots with beige pom-poms hanging off of them. Some random jewelry on her wrist and ears made her look like a girl in love, just waiting for her date.

"I would've preferred anything green or blue. Even yellow would've been fine. But…pink?" Maka picked up the end of her dress that went to her knees and looked at Marie.

"But you look so much cuter in pink clothes!" Marie protested, "The wardrobe girls worked hard on your outfit you know?"

Maka huffed, "I know, and that's why I'm wearing it."

"Oh! Maka you look so cute! The makeup artist really did a great job!" Marie looked at Maka with starry eyes.

"I got it, I got it." Maka chuckled.

Soul was being swarmed by reporters and the fact that he wasn't answering any of their questions didn't help.

As he got closer, Maka waited for him to look up, to notice her; after all, they were supposed to meet each other there. Soul got closer but there was no sign yet that he had even felt her presence at all. He passed her, in all his glory and continued on. The reporter mob followed after him as Maka shook with fury. Maka was about to bust out when one of the reporter from the mobs stopped as she passed her. The woman reporter stared at awe at Maka.

"Maka Albarn yes?!"

Soul flinched and stopped dead in his tracks, but Maka didn't notice it.

"Oh my! I barely recognized you!" This woman was apparently also a fan of Maka's, "Every time you do a photo shoot, you always look different, my niece really admires you, could you answer a few questions?"

Maka became suddenly docile and nodded yes.

"Oh Thank you! Then, you are currently-"

Before the reporter could finish her question, Soul appeared behind Maka.

"Who do you think you are to ignore me, Little Puppy?"

Maka flinched and turned her head up at him. He wasn't looking at her at all, but instead at the reporter woman, with a huge fake grin plastered onto his face.

The reporter mob that was following Soul earlier were now surrounding the two of them. Literally 'bombing' them with questions.

"Since when have you two been seeing each other?!"

"Is this for promotion?"

"How was Miss Maka able to tame Soul's cool boy attitude?"

Maka raised her eyebrow. "What?" Was all she could say.

Soul grabbed her arm and pulled her to turn around, "Really, it seems your leash is too loose these days. Sorry, gotta be on our way." His gripped forced Maka to move forward with him swiftly as the mob followed behind them.

Maka furrowed her eyebrows at him, "What are you saying?" She whispered to him.

"You shouldn't just ignore a celebrity." Soul growled back.

"Ignore?! Looks who's talking! You're the one who passed by me!" Maka argued, but before she could get her answer, they arrived at the door of the TV station. Maka looked back to see Marie waving goodbye at her from back where she was originally standing.

"We Coworkers must say goodbye to you guys now." Soul pushed Maka through the automatic door and followed behind her.

Maka heard all of the reporters outside sigh from Soul's use of the word 'co-workers' since they just lost what could've been a juicy story.

"Don't worry, they wouldn't post a rumor without evidence if it means having to deal with Shibusen's president, Shinigami." Soul said to Maka, while still holding onto her arm.

Maka stared at his arm.

"What-"

Before he could finish, he yelped out in pain, Maka had karate chopped his arm and he immediately let go of her.

"Why!"

"Before you ask, I'll tell you right now that I don't like you at all!" Maka glared at him.

Soul just furrowed his brow.

"I just like your voice! Nothing else about you attracts me towards you," Maka huffed as she stomped down the hallway. She stepped in front the main floor elevator. She pressed the button and waited.

She trembled when she noticed a figure behind her. "What?!"

"You're attracted to me?" Soul smirked.

"Wha?! No! Didn't I just say I wasn't?!" Maka yelled.

"But wasn't that you just being stubborn?" Soul leaned forward towards her and his grin got wider, showing his rather sharp teeth off to the world.

Maka stepped back from him and looked at him puzzled, "No. It meant that I really am not attracted to you, just your voice. Why would I say something I don't mean?"

Soul stared at her dumbfounded before sighing and standing back up straight again, "I see. I guess I admire you for that then."

"Thank you." Maka nodded her head yes.

Soul rubbed his head, confused, "Well, I have to get to sign in at the front desk before going up to the judging station, so just tell them I'll be there soon." Soul stumbled off and turned the corner.

Maka smacked her hands to her cheeks as soon as he did, "Blushing because I'm angry. I'm just blushing because I'm angry." Maka chanted to herself. She turned back towards the elevator door that wasn't there yet. She started to hum the song 'Monster.'

Yet, for some reason, while she was humming it, she couldn't get the tune down for it. She had a rough time just silently singing the chorus.

"Ah, completely different from the real thing. I guess it's just his effect." She sighed.

"I concur."

A voice said behind her, making her jump and almost fall over. She stumbled forward and turned back to see some pale guy with black hair, with some odd three stripes on one side standing there. She swears she had seen him before.

"Ah, yeah." Was the only answer she could come up with, between being surprised and trying to figure out where she had seen him before that is.

The elevator door dinged open and the guy didn't even wait for her to gather herself and step on, he just stepped on in front of her as he nudged her out of the way.

Maka was partly offended, but the other part of her didn't care. She was about to step on when the guy with the awkward hair pressed the door close button, making the door almost close on her. She stopped them with her hand before they did.

"Um!" Maka thought that maybe it was just an accident, so she blew it off, "You press the numbers to select your floor." She just assumed he was confused, and she tried to get on once more.

This time, it was quite obvious that he had indeed pressed the door close button. She stopped the doors again, "Hey!"

"Disgusting." Was what the guy huffed at her. She stood in shock, again, it was like this had happened before, something exactly like this.

"Disgusting…Me?"

As the doors closed on the shocked Maka, she finally remembered, "Ah! You're the guy from the other elevator!" She gasped, but it was too late, the doors already closed and the elevator gone. She stared at the doors for a moment before throwing her purse at them. "Dammit! Again! He did it again!"

**OOO**

Maka was scowling the whole way up to the waiting room for the second phase of the interview.

There were at least twenty other models there, one of them, she noticed, was the big breasted girl of all men's dreams.

"Tsubaki." Maka said her name with interest as she watched the girl, Tsubaki, talk with two other models whom she also recognized from the covers of some magazine.

"Tough competition." Maka sighed as she sat down in one of the chairs stationed around the room. She looked into her purse and pulled out her number, "Number 7, well what a coincidence." (A/N: Maka lives on the 7th floor of her apartment, in room 707.)

Maka pinned the number onto her shirt and looked around the room again. She happened to hear two girls talking about the competition.

"I heard that they brought 'Kid.' The 'Kid!'"

"Yeah! And that only if the group of judges, including 'Kid' and 'Soul Eater,' decide that they like how your do in their photo test will you able to advance to actually modeling with Soul!" The second girl fumed, mad that it wasn't that easy to meet a celebrity.

_I beg you to just switch places with me for one day, then see if you're still getting mad about not having to deal with him face to face yet._

Maka sighed, "So…I have to pass a test first? Then model…then commercial? Why so many steps?"

"It's because there is a secret agenda behind selecting the model for the commercial." A voice said next to Maka.

Maka turned to her left and found the girl, Tsubaki, sitting next to her, smiling widely. "Secret Agenda?"

"Yes Yes!" Tsubaki grabbed Maka's hands and shook them happily, "You'll see, You'll see." Tsubaki smiled innocently at Maka again before turning away from her and humming to herself.

_Yeah, some tough competition. _

'_Tsubaki' is just a stage name, from what I heard. But besides that rumor, only her company knows her real last name, though there are guesses. _

_Long black hair, guess she wore it down just for this evaluation today. A V-neck t-shirt with a ribbon at the bottom of the V, with some random design I've never seen before. Definitely the cute type. Light jeans with some brown sandals and a few bracelets on her wrist._

_Must become beautiful too Maka! You can do it!_

Maka unconsciously raised her fist into the air in an attempt to cheer herself on. Tsubaki just sat and looked at her.

"Oh! Sorry." Maka put her hand back down.

The door to the waiting room opened and a man with a headset on appeared. Everyone's eyes had been immediately on the door as soon as it opened.

"Number 7!" He yelled into the room.

Maka stood up slowly and she looked at the other girls in the room, all of the judging her with their eyes.

"You're number 7? Good Luck alright! I'm number 14, let's wish each other the best~" Tsubaki smiled at Maka.

Maka nodded back and showed her a nervous smile. She shuffled over to the door of the waiting room and waved back at Tsubaki, who was waving at her as she left.

The man closed the door to the waiting room behind Maka. "This way Miss number 7."

Obviously, this man had met so many celebrities that he didn't even care what their names are anymore, at least that was the vibe that Maka caught off of him. She followed him, as he instructed, and as she did, she passed by several 'Soul Eater' and 'Black Star' posters.

"I'm sure one day, you'll be just as great as them." The man said, almost so emotionless that Maka didn't think he was being serious.

_Must be what he says to everyone._

They arrived in front of two large double doors. The man opened the doors and stepped aside for Maka to follow him into the room.

"Please sit down in that seat," A judge, or at least someone she thought must have been a judge, directed towards Maka.

Maka stepped towards the seat in the middle of the room and sat down. It was a fairly large room, not too big though, about a little bigger than a two person hospital room. (A/N: Sorry! Please just use your imagination!)

Maka set her bag down and looked up to the judges, sitting up straight with a perfect posture.

"Relax Miss _Number 7_."

Maka heard a familiar voice say to her.

There, sitting in front of her, just as the gossiping girls anticipated, sat _the_ 'Soul Eater.' Maka simply nodded yes and took a look at who was sitting around Soul.

Two middle aged women with smiles on their faces, easy enough. And then an older man, much older. The last judge, sitting right next to Soul, to whose figure Maka's eyes inadvertently avoided, was a black haired, pale man, with three awkward white stripes on one side of his hair.

The man was looking back at her too, staring quite intently with his deep yellow eyes, with not a single emotion showing on his face.

Maka flinched and looked down quickly.

_I'm screwed aren't I?_

_

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_

**Alice: That's it for now! Was it good? Then review! **

**I haven't said it yet i think, so THANKS FOR READING "Wonderful Nightmare!"**


	5. Side Story: Before the Audition

**_GlassAlice: Okay, so i just had to type this up as soon as i thought of it. _**

**_Just a short intermission before the next chapter!_**

**_Enjoy!_**

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**Side Story: Before the Audition, Heartbeats Abound**

"Look over here Maka," The Make-up artist titled Maka's face slightly to the left, applying a sparkly powder that Maka would have categorized as unnecessary, see as how it was Soul that she was trying to look 'sparkly' for.

There was a TV on in the dressing room, showing the show 'Celebrity Watch' that comes on everyday at 9am. Maka's eyes were closed as she listened calmly to the report of the day.

"…This in, sources have sighted the infamous 'Soul Eater' in the area near…" Maka's eyebrow twitched and furrowed at the very mention of his name. Then she thought about it for a moment and let it sink in.

She laughed out of nowhere, scaring the Make-up artist.

_It's like a, 'This just in' bulletin or something! 'Soul Eater has been spotted!" _

She held her gut as she continued to laugh at the very idea of such a broadcast.

"Maka, what's got you so worked up?" The Make-up artist asked worried.

"Sorry, just thought about something. Can I get a drink now?" Maka stood up before the Make-up artist replied, taking her subtle nod as a yes. The TV program continued, moving from one topic to another. Maka walked over to the counter and looked at herself in the mirror. Sparkly, slightly flushed cheeks and long eyelashes. She sighed, wishing that she wouldn't have to meet Soul and have him say something about the over excess of pink that was on her.

"Girly-ness is just radiating off of me," Maka mumbled to herself as she picked up a water bottle and began to unscrew the cap.

"What's that?" The Make-up artist asked, half interested, half not, seeing as how she was fiddling around with the Make-up kit that was put together just for Maka's 'Big Day' today.

"Mm? Nothing," Maka answered before putting the top of the drink to her mouth.

The TV program started to play a live video taking place at that very moment, "…The big star that we all love is doing a live concert right at this very moment! Enjoy our birds' eye view from our helicopter on the scene." Maka shifted her eyes to the TV while taking a sip of water. She spit immediately at the sight of the celebrity that was on the stage.

"You're kidding me!" Maka yelled out.

"Yahoo Everybody! The great Black Star has decided to pay a visit to those of you who are lesser than gods!" Everyone continued to cheer and yell his name, ignoring the slight insult.

"Oh~ It's Black Star!" The Make-up artist sat down and watched intently while clapping enthusiastically. Maka looked over at her and raised her eyebrow.

"Now my next song for you guys! It's called 'Black Sky, Shining Stars'." The Black Star on the TV was dancing like he was born to be exactly that, a 'star.' His song was a strong song, with depth, something Maka never expected from him.

She closed her eyes as she listened, it was hard to hear past the screaming fans, as the Make-up artist stated. But somehow, Maka could hear it just fine. Maybe it was because she had heard his voice before, seeing as how she knew him personally, or maybe it was that it was the only voice that painted a picture in her mind, like she herself was floating through the stars.

His voice was different when he sung, it wasn't deep and rough like Soul's. More of a whisper than a call of seduction that Soul's voice would project.

"Sounds good." Maka mumbled as she chuckled a bit. She took another sip of her water. The song ended and the crowd grew silent as Black Star stood quietly on the stage, with his head hung low. Maka shifted her eyes towards the TV once more and saw Black Star lift his head, revealing a big, sneaky smirk that Maka recognized.

He lifted the microphone to his lips and yelled,

"Take that Strawberry Juice!" He laughed heartily and Maka spit even more water out on the mirror.

_You have got to be kidding me!!!_

The Make-up artist was shocked at both Black Star's statement and Maka spitting all over the mirror, "Are you sure you're okay Maka?!"

Maka grabbed a towel and cleaned up her mess, "Sorry bout that." She bowed to the woman and looked up at the TV.

"I beat you good Strawberry Juice!" Black Star laughed as the fans continued to cheer, dispite utter confusion.

Maka chuckled, "Yep, you did, but I'll get you back," She mumbled.

"What was that?" The Make-up artist asked again.

"Nothing," Maka smiled widely back.

"Just keep that smile on when you go to meet Soul Eater." The Make-up artist sounded giddy as she said his name.

"Another fan?" Maka asked. The woman nodded yes happily and did the finishing touches on Maka's make-up.

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_**GlassAlice: You Like? Next chapter will be up soon, so be patient with me guys! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you continue to review too! **_


	6. The Cat and the Puppy

_**GlassAlice: And many technology probelms later, here it is, Chapter Five of Wonderful Nightmare(not including the special). Enjoy!**_

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_**Chapter Five: The Cat and the Puppy**_

"Acquaintances?" Soul noticed the tension between Kid and Maka.

Kid didn't answer him, just glared at Maka with his eyebrow twitching.

"Oh! She's from the same company as you Soul." The older woman next to Soul was definitely enthusiastic to have the seat next to his.

Maka took pleasure in the obvious disinterest that Soul had and the slight twitching of his smile back at her.

"Something funny?"

Maka snapped back into reality and looked up towards the voice. Kid was still staring at her intently. This time, she could feel the disgust spread out on his face. He really didn't like her, at all.

The other older woman was smiling at Maka, not noticing the affair going on on Soul's side of the table. She opened her mouth to speak in a small and soft voice, asking a question that almost made the already tense Maka fall out of her chair.

"Do you have a boyfriend right now Miss Number 7?"

And she really did almost fall out of her very chair, but she stopped herself before she could and straightened herself out again before answering, "No."

"Oh? It amazes me that such a cute and petite young lady such as yourself doesn't have a boyfriend. Have you had one in the past then?" The older woman wouldn't stop her incessant questions, making Maka slightly uncomfortable with the silence of the other people on the judging table.

"No, I haven't." Maka answered, still keeping herself calm. As soon as she answered though, a sudden huff that usually starts off a persons' laughter came from the judging table. Maka looked towards the huff and not to her surprise, Soul Eater was now looking down and was trembling like he was trying to hold it in.

"Then if you would, show me 'love'." The older woman asked. Maka stared at her like she was insane for a moment until the older woman clarified what she said, "I mean the emotion, show us what 'love' would look like."

Maka stared forward for a moment, not really sure what to portray. She was kind of embarrassed to ask what she felt she was about to ask. She looked from the corner of her eyes at Kid, who was still staring at her menacingly, and took a deep breath.

_Should I ask them? Is it embarrassing if I ask? Is it weird?_

"Miss Number 7?" The older woman was still smiling, "Please-" She was cut off by Maka, who lifted her head immediately and looked straight towards the panel of judges. The older woman flinched. Kid, who had his chin resting on his hand for the longest time, lifted his head up with his eyes widened. Soul, peering from the corner of his eye until now, snapped his head towards Maka. The older man, who said nothing until now, got a smile on his wrinkly face.

"Um…Exactly..w-wha-" Maka stumbled over her words and her face grew red, she could just feel it. She lifted up her shoulders a bit and tried at a pathetic attempt to make her head disappear into the space between her shoulders. Even so, she continued, "W-what-"

"Thank you, you may go now," The older man grinned at Maka.

Maka was about to protest but thought it best not to argue with judges when they have already made up their minds, "Oh, alright." She got up and walked out of the doors of the room.

**OOO**

Maka walked down the silent hallway, remembering the way back to the waiting room due to her great memory. "What kind of love do you want me to portray?" Maka practiced again for the umph number of times. She sighed and stared at her shoes as she walked.

_No use arguing when they already decided to do away with me. Argh! I messed up, I should've just gone with anything rather than even think of asking that kind of question. _

_That would be the twenty-eighth time I've failed an interview now because I over-thought things, huh, Marie? _

Maka stopped in front of the waiting room door and looked up from her shoes.

_Well no matter! This isn't the last interview of my life right? _

_All I have to do is be positive right? At least I don't have to work with that Kid guy yet, that would have been a mess. Glad he didn't say anything about the first time we met, at least he has manners about that. _

_Working with Soul isn't at the top of my wish list either, so I have no problem with this. Yep! Always move forward Maka!_

Maka opened the door enthusiastically and stepped inside with almost a skip in her step. The other girls in the waiting room glared at her, thinking something along the lines of her interview going so well she had a spring in her step. Maka plopped down into her chair and took a deep inhale before exhaling with an almost old man's smile on her face, "Finished~" She stretched her legs and started to hum a happy tune.

"Number 8." The staff person spoke out into the room. Maka watched as the tall looking girl walked towards the door. Just as she had watched number 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 walk out of the door. Each came back with a half disappointed half giddy look on their faces.

Maka heard number 10 and number 13 whispering to each other.

"I finally got to see them up close and it was even better than I thought it would be!"

"I know! But I didn't do so well in my interview."

Maka kicked her feet back and forth in her seat, bored out of her mind.

"Number 14."

Maka flinched and looked around the room. She spotted Tsubaki, who seemed to be meditating, across the room.

"Number 14!"

Tsubaki came back to reality and jumped out of her seat, running up to the staff member. "Coming~" She grinned. She looked over at Maka and gave her a thumbs up before stepping out of the door. Maka gave her a thumbs up right back and grinned. The door closed behind her.

_Good Luck, Tsubaki._

**OOO**

The door opened, and Tsubaki jumped back into the waiting room with a smile on her face. She walked over to where Maka was sitting and sat down next to her. Tsubaki turned to Maka and grinned for awhile, making it a bit uncomfortable, then she let out a sigh.

"That was tiring." Tsubaki breathed in and out steadily before turning back towards Maka. Maka titled her head in confusion, and as if in some sort of telepathic way, they both stared to laugh. "Glad that's over with~" Tsubaki smiled.

**OOO**

The announcements arrived and everyone was anxious. The staff worker stepped to the front of the room quickly. "Let's get this over with shall we?"

_There he goes again with his sarcastic speech. _

"I'm going to call out every one who made the roster, going numerically. I'm starting." Everyone tensed in the room, except for Maka, who already knew what was to become of her audition and was already packing her things and making sure she had everything ready to go.

"Number 5." The girls with all the numbers before five left the room, while the triumphant girl number 5 almost passed out from happiness. "Number 8."

_There we go._

Maka stood up and was about to walk out when something grabbed her arm.

"Hmm? Tsubaki? Oh."

_She's asking me to stay till she gets her results. Alright._

Maka sat down patiently and gave Tsubaki a smile. Girls continued to leave the room as numbers continued to be passed. Some crying, some didn't care, and some where even angry and cursing.

"Number 11. Number 14." Tsubaki sat up straight, and looked over at Maka. Maka gave a smile and stood up from her seat.

"Time for me to get going Tsubaki. I'll call you later." While Maka was making her way towards the door, the last of the numbers got called.

"Number 28. And one more-"

_Let's see, when I get home I think I'll have some of that ice cream I've been having after a nice, hot, bath. And then I'll watch my favorite show on the-_

"Number 7 as well. That is all."

Maka froze. She turned to see Tsubaki's face lit up. Her legs began to shake like jell-o. She collapsed into the nearest chair. "You made it Maka-chan!" Tsubaki gave Maka a pat on the back.

_I…I…made it?!_

**OOO**

Apartment 707…

"So what's the deal? Write to the complaint department, it wasn't a unanimous decision." The spiky haired, red eyed man huffed at the sulking Maka.

"So you're saying you didn't vote for me?" Maka stuck up her finger and waved it around.

"Wagging your tail around isn't going to change anything little puppy." Soul smirked, grabbing Maka's finger mid-wave. Maka snatched her finger back and glared at Soul.

"You're amused." Maka pouted.

"I am."

Maka sighed, giving up. "Where's Black Star?"

"He's out, doing something called, 'Operation beat the Strawberry.'" Soul laid back onto the floor and looked up at the ceiling. "Yo, Maka."

"Hmm?" Maka got up and walked over to the kitchen, getting another glass of milk. "What's up?"

"You know that drinking that stuff isn't really helping at all with your problem." Soul chuckled as Maka fumbled with the glass that she was pouring.

"If you were here for the instant noodles, than just leave already." Maka walked back over and sat down, suppressing her anger.

"You were the one who invited me over." Soul sat back up.

"And I'm the one kicking you out, you didn't even answer my question anyway." Maka took a sip of her milk, setting it back down and taking a breath.

"Yo Maka." Soul stared at Maka's glass of milk before looking back up at her, who wasn't paying any attention at all. Instead watching the TV. "Can I borrow some milk, I got a cat living in my room." Maka just responded with a hmm sound. The TV was the only thing making noise. Silence.

"You know that love thing from today?" Maka's head twitched and Soul smirked his evil smirk. "Have you really…

Have you really had no boyfriend before? Though I'm not surprised, being strawberry tits and all, but still."

Maka turned around.

**OOO**

The door to apartment 707 opened. A laughing Soul stumbled out as the door shut closed behind him. Soul turned around and got up next to the door and said out loud, "See you Tomorrow little puppy~" His smirk permanently stuck on his face.

Soul stepped in front of door 708 and took a deep breath while rummaging through his pockets for his keys, having trouble since he had a bottle of milk in his other hand. He opened the door and steps started make their way towards him.

"Soul~ I was so tired of waiting, I took a cat nap you know! There's no fish left in the fridge!" A big-breasted woman threatened to suffocate him. He pushed her to the side and showed her the bottle of milk. "Oh~" She took it from his hand and bounced towards the kitchen.

Soul smirked, "She didn't answer my question." He glanced towards apartment 707 just one last time for the day.

"Soul~ The bath's ready~"

"Coming."

The door to apartment 708 closed.

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_**GlassAlice: There we are. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading!**_

_**Review!**_


	7. Staining the PureHearted

_**GlassAlice: So here's the much awaited chapter which i just had no idea what to type (why it took so long) and even then, it shouldn't have. I apologize for the wait, and i want to thank everybody who's keeping up with this story of mine. I'm really grateful and it means alot to get reviews, good or bad, so I hope you enjoy this chapter of Wonderful Nightmare!**_

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_**Chapter 6: Staining of the Pure-hearted**_

"I never was the acting type." Maka yawned, shifting her position in her chair slightly.

"They called the agency and said that your perception of emotion during the interview was better than anything they had seen," Marie bounced around the meeting area in the lobby of the Hotel.

"My perception of emotion? All I did was mumble like an idiot and I practically died of embarrassment." Maka mentally smacked herself again for her mistake from back then.

"Really?" Marie stopped and bent over to look at the tired Maka, "The old man on the phone sounded really pleased. Show me what you did." Marie sat down in the seat in front of Maka.

Maka huffed before raising her shoulders, and thought of the most embarrassing thing she could. An event that happened the first time Black Star stumbled into the bathroom with her still in it, then ran next door to ask Soul if he wanted to see a special show.

_I can't hit him enough for that._

She felt her face grow red, "Hmm…u-um..P-please." She snapped out of it and sat up straight again, like always, "Like that."

Marie stared at Maka before slamming her fists onto the table, "Brilliant Maka! You just showed love right? You were thinking of someone special right?" Marie gazed at Maka expectantly.

"Um, No. I was just at a loss of words of what to even say." Maka said puzzled.

_Wait, she said I portrayed love? I got into the competition because I was over-thinking things???_

"I showed love?" Maka questioned Marie once more, making sure that she had gotten her ideas straight on what happened now.

"Yep! Those flushed cheeks, trembling small body, up-turned eyes," Maries started to clap enthusiastically, "Love is in the air for Maka!"

Maka sank into her seat, realizing that her assumption was correct. She passed the interview phase because she was a bumbling moron who couldn't even look anyone in the eye. "Great." Maka sighed.

"Really Great!" Marie added.

"Miss Marie, you have arrived earlier than expected." A woman with glasses and a clean cut bob haircut stepped in front of Marie elegantly, with not even the slightest strand of hair getting out of place.

"Yumi!" Marie gasped, but caught herself afterwards, "I mean, Miss Azusa, you startled me greatly."

Azusa grinned slightly at her friend who was trying to sound as formal as possibly, "I apologize," she quickly regained her poker face, "Miss Maka Albarn?" Azusa looked Maka over.

"Yes." Maka stood up and bowed, her hair still looking like she just got out of bed, combed down quickly, "I hope to work well with the company." Maka looked up at Azusa who was nodding her head, as if accepting her politeness.

"I see, you left yourself as a blank slate so that the stylists could create the image they wanted. Thank you for considering the jobs of others." Azusa seemed pleased with Maka's thought process and turned around abruptly. She clapped her hands twice, "Right this way," and gestured toward the main lobby's elevator.

_What does she mean 'thanks for considering the jobs of others?' I feel insulted for some reason._

Maka shrugged it off and walked toward the lobby's elevator.

**oOo**

"Manager," Maka said rhetorically to Marie, who was looking at her wide eyed as she sat in the chair, getting her make-up done by the make-up artist, "Do you have nothing better to do?"

Marie flinched, as if in shock that Maka talked in such a sharp tone with her, "Maka? What do you mean?"

Maka looked at the crestfallen Marie and diverted her eyes quickly before she gave in, "I mean…," Maka paused for a long time before mumbling, "never mind." Maka huffed and sat back up straight in her chair. Marie titled her head slightly, wondering what it was about.

A knock on the door before it was abruptly opened by one of the staff, "Miss Marie, we need some assistance on the schedule set up." Marie leaped up from her kneeling position, not being careful enough to not show any cleavage to the male staff, making him almost lose his train of thought, "T-this way Ma'am."

Marie flinched at the words, "Hey! I'm not that old!" Marie turned and gave a wink to Maka before closing the door behind her.

"Your first photo shots are with Soul. Red will be the main theme. Are you okay with this?" The make-up artist pointed to the dress hanging from the door. Maka simply nodded her head. "Kids these days, so showy huh?" Maka chuckled and almost messed up her make-up. "Careful now! I almost made a red line on your face!" Maka looked up at her before speaking.

"Make me look as ugly as possible if you could." Maka waited for the Make-up artists expression before speaking again, "Just kidding." She laughed, the make-up artist looked at her worried.

_Doesn't matter what I look like, I'm not expecting much from him._

**oOo**

"Did they really change anything? I guess it's true, you could dress up a kid, but it will still look flat-chested no matter what you do to it." Soul shrugged.

_Yep, wasn't expecting anything from him._

Maka stomped on his foot, making him look away and tremble in pain. "Maka!" Marie quickly walked up to Maka, panting, "I almost missed the shoot. Does everything fit okay?" Maka looked at Soul, making him snarl back.

"Albarn, Soul!" The female photographer yelled from behind the camera. Soul looked at the photographer and raised his hand up, as if a signal to say he was on his way. He looked back at Maka.

"What are you waiting for?" Maka nudged him. Soul took it to insult and walked away mumbling, "That's what I was going to ask you."

"Maka?" Marie was still checking if everything fit, "This dress looks conserved enough I think, you think so?"

Maka looked up at Marie, "Marie."

"Hmm?"

Maka turned towards the set up where the photo shoot was going to happen, "If you need to talk to your friend, its okay you know." Marie flinched and looked at Maka, studying her. "I know that you don't meet friends often, always taking care of me." Maka turned her head to the side, looking at Marie from her peripheral, "Go catch up okay?" Marie's eyes got wide before she got a grateful smile on her face.

"As you order, Maka!" Marie bounced happily towards the meeting room, where Azusa was supposed to be at the current time. Before she left, she turned towards Maka and mouthed, "Call if you need me." Maka nodded her head and walked over to the now impatient photographer.

"It's about time!" The photographer practically yelled, "Soul has been waiting forever you know!" Maka looked at Soul, who had obviously all the time in the world, seeing as how he was kicking back, flirting with the girls who bring fruit to the snack tables.

Maka smiled, thought it was twitching a bit, "I'm sorry to have wasted Soul's precious time." Maka walked over and grabbed Soul's arm, pulling him back to the layout that was supposed to be their shot. Just a white couch and a white bean bag with some white pillows lay around it. Surrounded by white walls that seemed to compliment the rest of the furniture, how it couldn't, who knows?

"Time to get things dirty," Soul picked up a pillow and smirked at Maka.

Maka, who wasn't that used to the dirty jokes just yet, picked up a pillow and hurled it at him, red faced, "You talk too much."

Soul smirked, staring intently at Maka's movements. She fidgeted under his animal-like gaze (A/N: Ahh, I feel so lame right now). She shifted her foot to the left slightly, looking down to see if there were any pillows in her way.

As she looked back, she could only see the residual image of something swinging around her and scooping her waist, pulling her forward. She shut her eyes halfway through, so when she opened them, and finally got them to focus, all she could see was a broad chest with a red shirt flimsy-ly thrown on top of it. "And you think too much," Soul chuckled.

Maka looked up at the blank looking Soul, who was just gazing at her now. She averted her eyes, a bit uncomfortable.

_If this is the practice for the photo shoot, then I shudder to think what the actual thing is like. _

A click noise went off in the back of Maka's ear drums. Her eyes got wide as she glanced over at the photographer, who was clicking her camera nonstop.

_Wait, It starts now?!_

She looked up at Soul, who was waiting for her to make a move.

"Show love!" The photographer yelled in her crackling impatient voice.

_There's that word again. _

Maka sighed, making Soul lose his balance for a moment. She looked up.

"Seduction!" The photographer yelled again.

_Oh! I think I can do that. Let's see, I just…_

Maka reached her hands up Soul's leg from their previous dangling position. Slowly making her way up to his chest, he shuddered with every movement, not used to her slightly cold touch. Maka wrapped her arms around his back.

_He smells like he bathes in colon. _

She shook her head and glanced over at the camera from the corner of her eyes. Soul reciprocated her movement.

Maka got close to his face, standing on her toes, feeling like she was about to fall over. When she got close enough to feel his breath on her face, he whispered, making chills go down her spine, "What now little puppy~" He pulled her closer.

The shoot went on for another hour.

The film was taken to the red room.

Maka slumped over onto the couch. Soul just walked over to the snack table and looked around. Maka huffed, "Miss your Fruit girls much?"

Soul turned and smirked, "Jealous much?" Maka went blank faced and picked up a pillow, hurling it at him, hitting him much harder than the one from before did.

"Don't flatter yourself," Maka mumbled.

Soul ignored her embarrassed self, as much as he would have liked to press further into the reasons for it, he had other things on his mind. "Anyway, it's almost about time for him to get here anyway."

"Him?" Maka slid into a laying position on the couch.

"Yeah, _Kid_." Soul smirked.

Maka shot up in her seat, quickly getting up and grabbing the slippers by the bean bag that the staff left for her to use.

"Where are you going," Soul was too late, she was already dashing down the hall, "hey?!...Man, so not cool." Soul was left with no more girls around him.

**oOo**

Maka made it back to her dressing room without running into anybody relatively important, just some staff members.

_Sanctuary!_

Maka leaned up against the dressing room door, sighing in relief.

_Hell if I'm going to be called disgusting for no reason again._

Maka smiled, opening her dressing room door, believing herself to be safe.

"Maka! You got here early just like they said!" Maka turned to see a big-busted black haired Japanese woman.

"Tsubaki?" Maka questioned for a moment, "Tsubaki!" Maka grinned, realizing it was her best friend and not mister black suit in disguise. "Yeah, I thought I'd get this done so that I could head on home and get to studying for the exams in school next week."

"Oh! Right, you don't get home schooled right? Well good luck Maka. They said you finished already, so I suppose you just have to wait until Kid gets here right? Then you're all done." Tsubaki clapped, despite Maka's dissatisfied face at the very mention of such a person. "Oh!" Tsubaki stopped mid-clap, "I almost forgot didn't I? The other reason I came to see you."

"Hmm?" Maka was in a relatively good mood now, seeing as how she had another girl who she could relate to with her. So it all could only go downhill from there.

Tsubaki stepped to the side, revealing a slightly tall, pale, golden-eyed, black haired, three white stripes, black suited guy. "He was looking for you Maka." Tsubaki smiled, unbeknownst to everything. Maka frowned, almost unsurprised that she didn't notice his glare earlier.

_Of course, there go my eyes with the selective sight again, just looked over something I'd rather not see._

"There's a problem."

Maka flinched, surprised to see that the word "disgusting" was nowhere to be found it that sentence. "Huh?" She said out loud, making herself sound like a comedian in a skit.

"Come."

Maka was surprised that that sentence didn't have it either. Maka followed him, waving goodbye silently to the smiling Tsubaki.

**oOo**

_It's been longer than ten seconds now, and he hasn't even said anything having to do with trash to me yet. _

_It makes me sort of warm of fuzzy inside, but at the same time, it's too unnatural. _

_I'm slightly worried._

Maka walked slower, lost in thought.

"Hurry up, you filth."

Maka flinched at his harsh tone.

_Ah~ There it is. _

_Such a rush of familiarism. _

_Much more natural._

Maka followed him to the meeting room.

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**GlassAlice: Okay! That's the end of that chapter! And on to the next one, which I am typing right now! No lie man! Look forward to it. **

**Thank you for reading!**

**Remember to Review, not just add to favorites.**

**It'll make Maka and Soul happy if you Review!**


	8. Symmetrically Mistaken

_**GlassAlice: I had my thoughts well collected on this one, so it didn't take as long as usual. I want to thank all of you who reviewed so fast to the last chapter, really had me shocked and happy all at the same time. So read on! Here's the next chapter of Wonderful Nightmare!**_

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**Chapter 7: Symmetrically Mistaken**

"Horrible! I hate it! Not what I wanted at all!" Photographs went flying off the table, into the air. All of them but one photo lay on the table now.

_I-I don't understand._

"You expect me to work with this?! Get rid of her!" The photographer from before, in all her voice crackling glory, was in an angry rage in the meeting room.

"Calm down!" The other staff were all trying to stop her from stomping on the photographs and hitting other people around her.

Maka turned towards Death the Kid, who was looking onto the scene with an ever emotionless look on his face. "Hey, u-um…" Maka stumbled over her words, not sure how to take in the situation. Kid failed to acknowledge her, but that didn't stop the photographer from noticing her.

"Y-You! Wasting all of our time!" The photographer pointed at Maka, who flinched, now trembling a bit. The photographer picked up the last photo from the table, crumbled it up and threw it at Kid, who caught it with skill. "You agree with me don't you?! She's horrid!" Maka glanced up at Kid, fidgeting wildly.

_Horrid?_

Kid uncrumpled the photo and glanced at it, first emotionless. Then a look of distaste spread across his face. "Yes," he looked down at Maka, who was a little shorter than him, "I am appalled." Maka almost fell back at his words. She looked at him like she was lost, confused.

_Why?_

"Hey, what's with all the yelling?...Hmm?" A white haired, gleaming red eyed guy stepped into the meeting room. Glancing around confused, before Kid handed him the photo he just looked at. Soul looked at it, made no change in his facial expression, and then looked back up, "like I said, what's with all the yelling? It's too early in the morning to be doing this."

"Soul! She's ruining your image, she's not giving me what I want!" The photographer complained to the still confused looking Soul.

"What do you mean? This picture is great." Soul showed the photo to the rest of the people in the room, who all nodded in agreement. Maka moved to the side slightly to catch a glimpse at it. She froze in place. "You did a great job with it."

_Oh, I see. _

Maka breathed in and out, calmed down now.

"No no no! What's the first thing you see in this picture?! It's not Soul at all! It's her!" The photographer pointed at Maka once more, but this time, Maka didn't move an inch. Instead, she stood her ground. "She's not matching Soul in the least! I can't use any of these photos and it's all her fault!"

Soul took a step forward, "Hey! It's my fault that I couldn't keep up with a model at her job, its not-"

"That's enough." Maka sternly interrupted. Soul was taken aback by the sudden outburst. "She's right."

"What-"

Maka cut Soul off once more, "I misjudged thinking that I would be able to finish this job quickly, which made me not consider the image as a whole for this photo shoot, love and chocolate. As a supporting model, I should've made Soul Eater the main focus instead of taking the lead of the photo shoot myself. It's my fault." Maka emphasized her last sentence clearly to Soul, who looked at her, as if trying to figure out what to say to help her. Maka bowed to the photographer, "I apologize for my thoughtlessness, I hope in the next shoot I will be able to please you," the photographer was obviously about to reject the very idea, but then Maka shut her up, "if that's alright with Death the Kid."

Kid, who's eyes were fixated still on the picture of Maka and Soul, in which Soul was gazing deeply into Maka's clever-hinted eyes, both of them wrapped to each other like glue, crumbled up the photo quickly and threw it at the table, "I didn't come here for nothing correct?" He directed his question to the photographer, who simply nodded her head in submission to Kid's demands.

**oOo**

Maka stood a different layout from before, instead of white all around, it was black. Maka was wearing a white dress which hung so loosely that the straps were falling off of her shoulders. Her hair was combed straighter than usual, let down onto her shoulders. Making her look like an angel who descended amongst all the black. She lazily, yet elegantly, sat on the black couch. Kid, who just finished in wardrobe, walked onto the set, wearing a white shirt, unbuttoned a bit at the top, with a pair of deep purple pants, making Maka almost lose her cool demeanor. She stifled a laugh and looked up at him, her eyes slightly sleepy looking.

"Stand," Kid ordered her while reaching out his hand to her. She reached her arm up slowly, taking grasp of his hand.

A click from the camera signaled the start of things.

"Hold each other's hands." The photographer said, now listless and not interested as she was with Soul before.

_Obviously a Soul Eater fan. _

Maka decided to go with what Kid's golden, stern eyes were telling her to do. She got up from her sitting position and stood up. Wrapping her fingers in-between his, which didn't reciprocate the action.

Maka heard a slight whisper from the staff, "Is it just me or did the mood change? Maka and Kid definitely look better together than Soul does with Maka."

Which made Maka think again.

_Soul…How am I supposed to…_

"You're distraught. At a loss of what to do?"

A voice said from Maka's right. She turned swiftly, her eyes wide.

Another click in the background.

"If so, than you should make perfect symmetry with him," Kid looked towards her, still showing a face of blankness.

"Huh?" Maka's cool attitude dropped almost completely.

"Stop that!" The photographer scolded, making Maka focus again.

"What do you mean?" Maka questioned, looking away from him.

Kid looked at Maka, distaste once more on his face.

_Here we go, what word will it be now? Rotten? Useless? "Trash heap fool!" _

Maka thought about the last one to herself.

_I wouldn't be able to contain my laughter if he said that all Kingly-like. _

Maka looked away from Kid, bracing herself for the insult.

"Mirror him, is what I mean," Kid put bluntly, glancing from the corner of his eye towards Maka.

Maka got wide eyed once more, this time, a look of disbelief spread across her face. Like an "ah hah" moment, she turned swiftly towards him.

"Give me something different!" The photographer cranked out. "Get some lights on them!" The staff scurried to change the positions of the lights around the set.

Kid, who was paying no attention to the photographer, was staring blank faced at Maka, who looked up at him like he was her savior. The light shined brightly.

"Y-you…your…symmetry," Kid stumbled over his words. Maka titled her head to the side, confused and unsuspecting to what happened next.

A click went off as a pair of hands shot up towards Maka's face, smoothing back her hair and cupping her cheeks. Maka, still a bit out of it, looked up at Kid, who was staring at her with a wild look in his eyes. "K-kid?" Maka muttered, her breath on his face from him being so close. She moved her leg a bit at the same time, he moved forward, making them trip over each other. Kid landed right on top of Maka, his hands now moving through her hair roughly.

Another click went off.

Maka could smell his shampoo.

_Like fresh cotton. Sort of girly._

Maka looked up at the wild eyed Kid and decided to put into practice what she had just learnt. She tugged on his shirt sleeve as he pulled her hair back, making her head fling backwards suddenly. Her body small under him, he got closer to her face.

"Move the lights in more!" The photographer shouted orders, now suddenly more upbeat about the photo shoot. More clicks in sequence now.

The lights shone down on Maka's skin, making her look even more angelic than before. Her skin seeming to be shimmering. Kid slowly laid his forehead to Maka's as he let one of his hands free from the tassels of her hair and up her leg. Maka let out a moan without noticing. His hands icy cold on her skin.

"Ah~"

Maka closed her eyes and so did Kid. Maka's situation didn't allow her for time to think. The staff were immediately sent silent, one staff member was so shocked at the voice that he almost made a light topple over, which returned Maka to her normal skin tone.

Kid opened his eyes slightly to gaze upon her face once more, but distaste once more spread across his face. His shot up quickly, removing himself from her.

One last click as he look down upon her in dissatisfaction. The photographer had nothing to say, obviously flabbergasted. Maka looked over towards the staff and saw Marie, who happened to be absent for most of the drama, giving her a big smile. She gave her one in return, when she looked back to Kid, he was already fixing himself, buttoning up his shirt again and smoothly fixing the couch and other various things.

"Kid?" Maka questioned after getting back up on her feet. Her question was returned with a glare that seemed to have hate waves vibrating out of it. He walked off of the stage, passing by a white haired individual who happened to get there right before Maka was knocked to the ground. Maka looked over at Soul, who was looking down, not saying a word or even looking up at her.

_What's wrong with Soul?_

Maka clenched her chest and tried to walk towards him, to no avail. Marie stepped in front of her first, pulling her over to the photographer, making her bow immediately.

"Give her another chance with Soul! I'm sure she'll impress you!" Marie pleaded with the photographer, apparently not for the first time since the meeting room incident.

"I thought about what you said and," the photographer looked Maka up and down, "I guess we'll try one more time." The photographer gave Maka a snarl, which was not as bad as straight forwardly demanding her to be fired, so it was a start. "Moving sets!" The photographer yelled.

**oOo**

"I see you learned something from Kid." Soul smirked, wearing the previous outfit as before. Maka stood in front of him, staring.

_I swear something was wrong. _

"You okay?" Maka gazed up at Soul.

"Oh, you're actually worried about me? How sweet of you," Soul got closer and took a peak down at her chest, "Nope, apparently learning things won't make them grow huh?"

Maka pummeled him with pillows.

"Be more serious!" The photographer yelled. Maka flinched and dropped the pillows.

"After you~" She smirked, still holding one dangerously behind her back.

"Well of course," Soul smirked back, reaching behind her temptingly, grabbing the pillow and tugging at it playfully, "What did you expect?"

**oOo **

"It's a shame you lost the chocolate commercial job to Tsubaki," Marie sighed, staring up at the TV on the bus.

"Well, she did look better with Soul than I did, more mature, what they needed for the commercial," Maka pointed out as the bus came to a stop. "I still can't thank you enough for backing me up in doing the photo shoot with Soul again. Thanks." Maka smiled, taking a few steps off the bus.

"Oh course! I am your manager after all!" Marie gave her thumbs up.

Both of them stepped off the bus, seeing as they had arrived at their destination. Night had fallen and the day was finally ending. They strolled up to the front door of the apartments.

"Oh yes, Death the Kid asked me to pass along a message for you Maka," Marie smiled, but Maka instead got a frown on her face.

"Yes?" Maka sighed.

"He says, 'Don't let lights hide you're lack of skill in symmetry. I cannot believe I was deceived in such a way.'" Marie imitated his voice, making it sound slightly less serious that Kid had probably meant it to be, "What's that mean Maka?"

"Hell if I know." Maka shrugged, not bothering to dwell on the words of Kid before she was about to take a nice bath and hit the hay. "What'd you do with the copies of the photos of Kid and I anyway? You ran off as soon as they handed them out."

"Sending them to Shibusen HQ of course, I had to show the president how brilliant Maka was! I'm sure he'll be so proud of you!" Marie said gleefully.

_Like such a higher up would actually have time to pay attention to me. I didn't even get the job in the end. _

Maka watched as Marie hummed to herself happily.

_But I guess I might as well be optimistic about it huh? _

_Let the delusions live on._

Maka passed by a man in white, smoking, as she opened the door of the apartments.

"Let me walk you to your room, just to be sure. Alright Maka?" Marie asked.

"Sure-"

"Maka Albarn?" A hand grabbed onto Maka as she was walking into the front door.

"Y-yeah?" Maka flinched, slightly creeped out by the lab coat, cracked glasses, stitches and huge cork screw head piece.

"May I have a word?" The professor grinned widely, showing his bare teeth.

* * *

_**GlassAlice: So this chapter has drawn to a close, and I can't even wait to finish the next one, look forward to it!**_

_**(Don't just add this to your favorites and move on, because that doesn't make Maka and Soul happy at all.)**_

_**Review everybody!**_


	9. Winning Back Happiness

_**GlassAlice: It's here! Anyone more excited than I am that it is? 'Cus I know my heart is thumping really fast right now! Thanks for the support everyone! **_

_**Another chapter of Wonderful Nightmare. **_

_**Happy summer!**_

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**Chapter 8: Winning Back Happiness**

"Would you like some tea?" Maka asked from the kitchen of her apartment.

"Coffee." The man with glasses pointed at her swiftly.

"I don't have any coffee," Maka mumbled back.

"Then go get some," The man said nonchalantly, hearing her even though her voice was that of a whisper. Maka flinched and turned back towards him, eyeing him and assessing the situation.

_Is he serious? "Go get some"? _

"And yes," The man turned towards her, making light reflect off his glasses in a most annoying way, "I'm serious." Maka turned back towards the kitchen sink and picked up a cup, having the urge to fling it at his messy head of white hair.

_He's your superior Maka. The vice president of Shibusen Talent Agency. Stay calm._

Maka started to make clanking sounds in the kitchen, picking up and dropping cups as loudly as she could.

"U-um," Marie struggled to talk over all of the noise, "Why have you come to visit Maka today Dr. Stein? Oh, lemme guess, the pictures right?" Marie was practically bouncing in her seat at the table.

"Yes that's right, they were most interesting to say the least." The man, Dr. Stein, started to crank his headpiece screw, making the most eerie sound a person could imagine, "And quite hard to ignore when a certain red headed father is waving them in everyone's facing and posting them onto the company blog."

"Oh my, sorry about that. It must have been such a pain." Marie bowed to Stein apologetically, interrupted by Maka's swift footsteps to the table before the loud clank of the cups when she set down the tea. "Thank you Maka." Marie grabbed a cup and sipped it, "Delicious as always." Maka hid the smile that she would have given if they were alone in the room, and she passed another cup to Stein with a loud clanking sound once more.

"Such a rude child," Stein picked up the cup and sniffed it, "And I if I remember, I asked for coffee." Stein put his cup down and turned his attention back to Marie, but not before giving a mocking smile towards Maka. "I really don't see where she gets this foul attitude from."

That's right, this man, as was learned earlier by Maka, was the Vice-president of Shibusen Talent Agency. Learnt after Maka almost threatened to chop of his hand if he didn't let go just earlier in front of the Apartment gates.

Marie was about to answer when Stein abruptly stood up, grabbed his coat and started to make his way towards the door.

Maka stood up and followed him, eager to see him leave. He stood next to the door and waited for her to open it for him and escort him out.

_Of course, even this rude child will open your door for you. _

Maka smirked at her thought before opening the door and waiting for him to step out. Instead though, he just stood there, and stared at Maka. Eyeing her up and down. Checking her every facial expression and body language.

What seemed to last forever finally ended when he gave an almost sarcastic smile, "Shibusen looks forward to your future works and bright future." Stein nodded to Marie before stepping out of the doorway and walking away.

"I-I'll get going too then, I'll call you tomorrow Maka." Marie hopped up from her seat on the orange pillow and ran to the door, slipping on her shoes quickly while at the same time, putting on her jacket. "Bye Bye!"

Maka peered out of the doorway and watched as Stein stepped onto the elevator that had apparently just arrived and as Marie jumped on after sprinting to make it in before the doors closed, smiling happily at Stein who just looked at her curiously.

Maka stepped back into her apartment and shut the door behind her.

_So that's the famed Vice-president whom Marie can only look at from afar?_

She sighed outwardly and took a few steps into the room before remembering that she was planning to go on a jog after she had gotten back from the Chocolate Ad conference. She took a glance at the clock, "10:23." Maka sighed again than stopped when her phone started to vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out from underneath the ruffles on her clothes and took a glance at it. "Tsubaki?" Maka flipped it open saw that it was a text message from her new friend, whose phone number she had gotten just earlier that evening. She read it out loud on accident,

"You're on your jog now, yes? Remember that every single time you sigh you lose a moment of happiness. –Tsubaki"

Maka froze as she stared at the screen before quickly covering her mouth with her free hand, trying to hold back a laugh that would have been loud enough to wake up everyone who was asleep in the surrounding apartments. She looked at the text a bit more before running her hand through her let down hair grumpily. "I've lost to psychic Tsubaki." She chuckled before glancing one more time at the clock on top of her television. She nodded to herself before walking to her closet and taking down her track suit.

She changed quickly, tying her hair into a ponytail, but not bothering to tie up her bangs with it. She stepped towards the door in her green track suit that was matching jacket and sweat pants with two white lines going down each pant leg and arm. She slipped on her running shoes and slipped her hand around the doorknob of her apartment when a knock all of a sudden made her flinch and almost trip backwards. She opened the door and was not surprised at all to find a certain white haired, red-eyed celebrity behind it.

_Excuse me sir, can I exchange what's behind door number one for what's behind door number two?_

Maka stared at him, at first he simply returned the favor. After a moment, he got over his shock and managed to break the silence.

"Telepathic Twins separated at birth?" Soul grinned at his imitation of Black Star's attitude while Maka stared at him even longer, making sure not to laugh so that he could get any satisfaction. However, on the inside, she couldn't stop the rampant laughter. Maka wrote it off as just being funny because she was still holding back her laughter from Tsubaki's earlier text.

"Perhaps," Maka replied stoically before slipping past him and locking the door behind her. She leaned over and put her apartment key in the sole of her shoe.

_A little discomfort in exchange for safety is fine with me._

She began to leave the dumbfounded Soul behind when he grabbed her by the shoulder and made her turn back towards him. "Where are you going this late at night?" He questioned her, a slight look of discomfort on his face.

Maka grunted as she shrugged him off of her, "You don't have to worry about me if it makes you this uncomfortable. I can take care of myself."

"Oh really?" Soul smirked, his usually tone had been switched on, and Maka was glad he was back to normal. "Well then, I would like to know where the puppy is going on such a late night."

Maka titled her head to the side, wondering what she should say next.

_It really is late. _

Maka's mouth twitched as she wrapped her mind around the ideas in her head.

_He wouldn't leave a girl to go out on her own at a time like this would he?_

Maka thought back to what happened at the photo shoot when she had finished modeling with Death the Kid. She inwardly grinned, "I'm going to Kid's _House_." She added a small heart to the way she spoke, along with a cute voice to emphasize the word 'house.'

Soul shifted uncomfortably for a second, "Hey, you're not going to tell about my cat if you get caught in Kid's room this late at night right?"

_No. Now I am though. _

Maka titled her head the other way and looked at him blankly, "Huh? But aren't we partners? If I go down, so do you right?"

Soul looked down at his feet, grumbling, "Shinigami is a stickler for the rules for sure. I'd never hear the end of it."

**oOo**

"Where are you going?" Soul followed Maka, dragging his feet on the concrete.

"That's the," Maka inhaled, "29th," Maka exhaled, "Time you've asked that."

Soul looked at the passing houses, "So accurate." He mumbled softly and angrily.

"Hmm?" Maka managed between her paced breathing.

"It's nothing." Soul sighed.

Maka stopped dead in her tracks and turned back towards him, remembering to jog in place to keep up her heart rate, "You just committed two wrongs there!"

Soul raised his eyebrow. "Cool guys always commit wrongs, get over it." He passed Maka even at his walking pace.

Maka turned back towards him, jogging up to him, "You see, not only did you sigh, which caused you to just lose a potential happy moment of your life. You also answered, 'Nothing.' This means that you had something to say but you're too scared to say it because it might drop your coolness level." Maka took a breath, almost forgetting she had to keep up the pace.

"The first one sounded admirable but the second one," Soul glanced at her from the corner of his eye, "You made it up right?"

"So what if I did?" Maka laughed, out of breath, with sweat running down her face.

"By the way, what are you doing? Not only did you say that you were going to Kid's but you drag me out on a jog with you. And now you are bouncing up and down like you're running but then you're not really going anywhere. It's been thirty minutes you know?"

"Oh! That would mean that one more 'Where are we going?' and it would have been one per minute." Maka smirked.

"Maka." Soul glared at her.

"Okay first," Maka took a breath, "I lied about going to Kid's house. And second, It's called building up endurance." Maka let out her held in breath.

"Why did you lie?" Soul directed at her, despite staring at her hair the swung back and forth in the cool breeze of the night.

"Because I knew you'd come," Maka still had her back towards him, so he couldn't tell what her expression was, he just continued to stare at the frame of her shoulders and the slim neck that held up a perfectly shaped jaw line.

"Secrets must be protected," Maka stopped in front of the mini-mart, apparently where she was headed the entire time. She turned towards Soul and got some sweat out of her eyes before pursing her lips together into a soft smile, "Right Partner?"

Soul was taken aback by the way the light from the sign of the store made her face glow. "Definitely." He held out his hand for a hand shake, Maka reached out but then paused and thought about the last time that she tried to touch Soul's hand. Slightly impatient, Soul took the initiative and grabbed her hand before she could pull back, shaking it carefully.

"What's with you?" Maka titled her head, "Not enough fruit girls around today?"

Soul smirked, "I prefer Strawberry size." Earning him a swift kick in the knee. "Your bite really is bigger than you're bark." He limped into the store with Maka before walking her back home.

**oOo**

Maka walked to the back of the set for her quick break during her photo shoot.

"Maka, Maka! Take a look!"

Maka turned to the television that the make-up artist was directing her to. "Hmm? What's this?" The television had a press conference regarding the recent chocolate ad decision. "They're still on this? It's been almost a week since they decided." Maka scratched her head in wonderment before shrugging and grabbing another sip of water.

"Ten more minutes for the break Maka!" Maka heard Marie yell from the set.

"Alright!" Maka yelled back, "I can start now if we have to-" Maka began to yell but was cut off by the make-up artist, Saki, yanking her back towards the television. (A/N: Same Make-up artist from the extra chapter about Black Star.)

"Look Maka!" Saki stared at the television, bright eyed, "You know I would've killed to work with Soul's hair during that shoot." Saki started to drool slightly.

Maka nodded, "I'm sure you would've-" Cut off again by the sudden increase of the volume on the television by Saki.

Soul and Tsubaki were seated next to each other at a table, in front of them, a large amount of reporters, standard conference style.

"Congratulations on the new commercial Miss Tsubaki!" One reporter, clearly a fan of Tsubaki, yelled from the back of the crowded room. Tsubaki, a professional at heart, simply smiled and waved to the praise.

"Can we expect the two of you working together in the future on such a product?" A reporter called.

Soul leaned forward towards the microphone in front of him, "Maybe." He said with a toothy smile, making the reporters all burst into full question mode. A riot began to form.

"Don't tease them Soul." Tsubaki put one hand over her mouth and chuckled, soothing the outburst of questions. "I'm sure we will be provided with many opportunities such as this one in the future. It was a pleasure working with Soul Eater."

A single reporter raised their hand amidst all the rest.

"Yes?" Tsubaki gestured to the male reporter.

He cleared his throat before speaking, "In various magazines, the photos which were taken during the photo shoot prior to the commercial were featured, correct?"

"Yes." Tsubaki nodded as a soft smile played onto her lips.

"In these series of photos," the reporter continued, "featuring Soul Eater and yourself, beside them, although small, were a series of photos taken during the photo shoot. 'The making of' if you will." Tsubaki nodded, while the rest of the reporters stayed silent, feeling that the next few words could be of some worth. "In one of these photos, we see the popular model, Death the Kid, and another rising model Maka Albarn together. It is common knowledge that there was a competition before the decision for the casting of this commercial. In which the models were required to take a series of test shoots with both Death the Kid and Soul Eater. So if I may, Soul Eater, what was your opinion of Miss Maka Albarn, who was the only other model to be featured in the series of photos in these various magazines?"

"That's one good reporter. Kudos to the company he works for." Saki clapped her hands in excitement. Maka stared at the television now, paying more attention than before.

The crowd of reporters went silent, only a few whispering things amongst themselves. Soul sat up straight from his usual slumped over position when he sits and glanced over towards Tsubaki, who nodded at him before turning back towards the reporters.

"It's no wonder they're quiet," Saki nudged Maka several times, as if Maka wasn't paying attention.

"Ow," Maka mumbled, only to earn a shush from Saki, who was nearly at the edge of her seat to hear Soul's response.

Soul grabbed the microphone in front of him and spoke, "She's cute."

Maka nearly slipped out of her seat, as did nearly all of the reporters sitting in the room on the television. Saki got a huge grin on her face while Tsubaki continued to smile at the reporters, as if expecting what he would say.

"Completely cute." Soul reiterated to the crowd, completely cool with the words coming out of his mouth, "Utterly cute."

"If I might add," Tsubaki smiled,

"Like a puppy." Soul and Tsubaki both spoke at the same time.

The crowd went silent before similar phrases began to be passed along,

"That's right huh?"

"I thought I was the only one."

"That last poster she came out with for the shampoo made my children want me to buy it so that I could look as pretty, you know?"

Another reporter yelled, "Than does this mean that Miss Maka Albarn and yourself have potential together?"

"No." Soul replied quickly and just as blank faced as he had just complimented her.

"Oh Maka! Make-up shall soothe the broken heart," Saki got up and add some touch ups to Maka's make up.

"It really doesn't bother me in the least." Maka shrugged.

_Slightly irritated that he replied so quickly though. _

Back on the TV, another reporter popped a question, "How does Miss Tsubaki feel after hearing this stunning confession?"

Tsubaki paused before leaning towards the microphone, "I won this round Maka. Fighting!" Tsubaki smiled.

"Let's turn this off," Saki clicked the power button, thinking she had somehow upset Maka in some way. "There, all done." Saki looked up towards the person walking towards them, "Oh, Miss Marie. She's ready to go!" Saki turned Maka toward Marie and turned to pack up her make-up kit.

"Maka!" Marie air hugged Maka in order not to mess up her clothes and hair, "You've been recognized by the pros of the business! You're going places!" Marie grinned, which Maka returned. "Ah. But you don't still model for 'that' do you?" Marie's eyebrows lowered, realizing that her wording may have gone a bit too far.

Maka looked up at her, "I-"

"Maka! On set!" The crew yelled from the set behind them.

"Ah, I'm up." Maka walked swiftly passed Marie towards the garden themed set. Marie watched her as she walked off in her heels.

"I'm impressed." A voice called from behind Marie. She turned towards it, startled for a moment before realizing who it was.

"W-what are you doing here?" Marie had suddenly become docile, unlike her usual self.

"I'm interested in your talent, but not before some coffee, yes?"

Marie nodded and directed him to the meeting room.

(A/N: when he says, 'I'm interested in your talent,' he means Maka, not Marie's skills.)

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_**GlassAlice: So that's the end of that Chapter, which took me forever and more time, though I'm slightly happy with how it turned out more so than the others. Slightly filler while still offering some more questions. **_

_**Review because that's what makes Soul and Maka happy, as always!**_


	10. Her Eye's Gaze Pt 1

**So, this took me longer than expected. I'm going ahead and posting this because I felt that it wasn't fitting well with what I was going to do. (If I had gone ahead with what I was going to do, than this would've been a VERY unnecessarily long chapter ) So here's part one of two (that's why it's alot shorter than usual) So just wait awhile longer, I'm working on part two and it should be here soon. I enjoy this story and I hope you do too.**

**I own neither Soul Eater nor Any of it's Characters**

**So here's Chapter 9 of Wonderful Nightmare!**

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********Chapter 9: Her Eye's Gaze (Part 1)**

"So, who are you again?" Maka's eyes were looking at the burly man in front of her disinterested, her eyes threatening to close themselves. She circled the opening of her tea cup with her index finger.

"Joe Buttataki," The muscle man reached his hand across the table, "Sorry to disturb you're precious off-time. I understand how busy you must be at the moment."

"Mr. Buttataki-" Maka started before Joe raised his hand suddenly,

"Please, call me B.J." B.J. smiled at Maka who continued to stare at his appearance. Shaved head, over exaggerated muscles, yet sipping coffee like it was the most wonderful experience in the world.

"You're alright with that? B.J. I mean…" Maka turned her eyes away from him, slightly uncomfortable.

"Of course," B.J. laughed, none the wiser.

"Alright then." Maka shrugged, it didn't really matter to her what people preferred to be called, but she had asked just in case. "You said you had a job for me?"

B.J. sat up and set his coffee mug down onto the table of the meeting room. "I would like to make a photo album of your evolution." Maka leaned forward, her index finger no longer looking for something to stop her boredom.

"Evolution?" Maka questioned, her ears at full attention now, "What do you mean?"

"The changing of your thoughts and feelings, set out onto paper. Your own personal stage." B.J. turned to the side and ruffled through his messenger bag, pulling out a photo.

Maka leaned forward a bit more as he slid it across the table. It was a photo of Death the Kid sprawled on top her herself. His mouth slightly open near her neck, as if he was holding back on the desire to make his mark on her. Herself looking towards his chest, dazed, hair wild from when his hands were rushing through it.

She quickly stood up, covering her nose, like she would have a nosebleed at any moment. B.J. stared at her before looking back down at the photo, "It came out good yes?" B.J. laughed as Maka sat back down slightly embarrassed.

"Too Good." Maka mumbled, trying to recover from her moment just now.

A knock on the door followed by a sudden opening made both Maka and B.J look up. "Maka, we need to get going," Marie looked down at the watch on her wrist before looking up with more urgency, "Now."

"Alright," Maka got up, scooping her jacket from the back of the chair. A sudden ripping noise returned her attention to the man known as B.J.

He slid the photo, now ripped in a way that it showed only Maka, and smiled, "I want to know what these eyes are looking for."

Maka leaned forward, feeling him urge her to take what remained of the picture with her. She slid it off the table and looked back up at B.J. "Maka!" Marie yelled this time, bouncing up and down in her annoyance. Maka turned to leave when she heard one last phrase from the man.

"I want to photograph the look behind your façade."

Maka was pulled into the hallway by the quick stepping Marie. Heels stomping quickly down the hall. As if they were resonating at the thumping of her heart.

**oOo**

"So you really have something against Kid don't you?" Soul threw the picture back on the table, giving a look of dissatisfaction towards Maka.

"I told you already, I wasn't the one who ripped it." Maka said again, for the fourth time that night. She put both of her hand over her eyes and laid back onto the floor. "He was so weird."

The sound of a toilet flushing followed by the sound of a door opening signaled Black Star's arrival into the conversation, "I heard about that guy! He's that famous photographer, B.J. He even refused the great me, Black Star! When Shinigami asked him to make a photo collection of me." Black Star smiled as he had just showered himself with praise. Maka stared at him before looking down at his waist area. Black Star looked down and flinched, shooting both hands up in front of his lower 'area.' "Private Access Only," He grinned dorkily, making Maka get shivers.

Maka's eye twitched before she picked up one of the sitting pillows in her apartment and hurled it at him, "Come off it! Go wash your hands!"

Black Star looked at his hands curiously, "I did."

"Liar!" Maka yelled. Black Star pouted, realizing he caught himself in his own lie, as he stumbled back towards the bathroom, turning the knob and lathering up before coming back.

Soul paid no attention to the usual antics; he spoke over the noise of rushing water from the sink in the bathroom, "I heard he only takes up any talents whom he's interested in. Wouldn't even take Tsubaki as a matter of fact. B.J. I mean."

Maka leaned forward and slid the picture off of the table, staring at it more intently. She felt like she might fall into herself, if only a sudden 'thing' hadn't snatched it from above her that is.

"So you guys going out?" Black Star placed the pillow thrown at him earlier onto the floor in front of the table before sitting down, legs crossed.

"What?" Maka had been zoned out for so long she couldn't even remember what the conversation was about.

"That means no." Soul grabbed the picture, angered by the slight mention of Kid, from Black Star before returning it to its original position on the table. Maka got up from her seat and walked over to her green duffle bag, pulling out three photo albums. Each one photographed by B.J., as written on the cover of each. She laid them out on the table and grabbed the first one from the pile.

A girl with long red hair on the cover, her face masked by her hands, and her eyes wide, looking towards whoever was to pick up the album. The picture gave off a slightly uncomfortable mood, but drew Maka's eyes anyway. She started to flip through the contents, stopping at almost every picture, and completely ignoring the two boys in her apartment at the time.

The two of them watched her as she shifted through the pages, finding it best not to say anything. Even Black Star, who was almost at his limit for the silence. It was finally broken by Maka, the very person who initiated it in the first place, "This is the third time I've shifted through these." She stacked it back on top of the others, "Not counting the times I've gone through the other two." She ran her fingers through her hair, fighting back the urge to sigh.

"So what are we here for anyway? Are you asking for our approval?" Soul asked, his chin being held up by his forearm that had its elbow the table. "You shouldn't have to, seeing as how you've already made you're decision. Trying to get the attention of men this way is uncool."

_What are we here for he says? You both came on your own like always. And I don't try to get attention, you both just shower me with it for some reason. Great, now I sound cocky. _

Maka looked up at him, unconfident on the outside despite her confident inner thoughts, not knowing what to say to the fierce red eyes that looked back at her, as if feeling as though they were disappointed. Black Star scooted towards Maka, wrapping one arm around her neck and pulling her close to his chest, "Shoot for the Stars!" He rubbed his knuckles into her hair, "Me that is!" He promptly let go and looked over at Soul, who had already moved his attention somewhere other than the flirting going on in front of him, trying to pretend that the pink curtains in the room were ever so intriguing. "I think I'll just sleep here tonight, feel blessed by my presence." Black Star laid his head onto his pillow back on the other side of the table, yawning and quickly falling asleep.

_If I try to wake him up, he might pull me down with him. Best not to fuss about it. _

Maka rubbed the back of her head in frustration.

Soul glared at the back of Black Star's head until Maka leaned forward, making his eyes avert back to her. She picked up the stack of books and placed them on top of her bookshelf next to her television. Thinking that she would find a place for them later. She looked over at Soul and mouthed the words, 'Help me Lift?' He stood up and aided her in the effort, sliding it into the closet as she reached over him to grab her futon and extra blankets. He looked up when he saw the shadow looming over him, not expecting to be right underneath her, he hit his head on the shelf above him.

"I know you're not okay so I'm not going to ask." Maka whispered to him as she threw a blanket down to him, "You are staying right?"

Soul looked up at her, feeling that denying to stay would make him seem cooler than denying to leave would, "Why? You want me to?"

"Yes." Maka glanced over her shoulder at the sleeping Black Star, "You sleep in the middle. Have Pity on my girly sensitive self." She faked a weep and slightly chuckled, to which Soul was glad to see, rather than the face she had worn just previously showing a look of frustration.

Soul laid down an extra blanket and made himself comfortable. He slightly closed his eyes as Maka clicked off the light above them. His eyes followed her movement as she set down a blanket on top of Black Star before returning to her futon.

He didn't get any sleep that night, when he did it was already three in the morning, and when he woke up at five, Maka was already gone. Black Star on top of him sideways, his leg hitting his head.

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**Alright! So part One's Done! Yay! **

**Review and Tell me what you think!**

**I also want to thank everyone who has been reviewing to this story! Thank You! **


	11. Her Eye's Gaze Pt 2

_**It's here! At last! So many things had to be done this week and this was on my checklist! I refuse to go two weeks without updating this story! So the next one will come soon alright? **_

**_Alot of things are discovered about background wise (age, place, etc.) so that i could answer some questions people had. I will continue to answer your questions, thank you for reading, _**

**_Wonderful Nightmare!_**

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**Chapter 9: Her Eye's Gaze (Part 2)**

"I'm glad you decided to go ahead with the deal." B.J. smiled at Maka who was sipping her tea slowly, so as not to spill in the van.

"You're welcome," Maka nonchalantly sipped some more tea while B.J. felt a bit taken back by her words. He looked outside at the scenery passing by before turning towards Marie, who was bobbing back and forth, in and out of sleep.

"Don't fall asleep Miss Manager, we're almost there and it'd be a shame to miss Miss Maka's performance." Marie's eyes shot open at the sound of B.J. uttering her formal name. She looked up at him smiling before looking out the window quickly, about the die of embarrassment.

Maka looked outside the window, a forestry area with lots of greenery. It had felt like they had gone north from Death City (A/N: Official name of City Revealed, though it shouldn't be much of a surprise. In this story, Death City is not surrounded by Desert, instead it's just a normal City surrounded by other Cities, if that makes any sense), so despite the green trees, it was freezing outside, and B.J. had refused to turn on the heater because it wasted gas and the car's battery. Maka cuddled up in the blankets around her a bit more, blowing on the window, making condensation, and drawing pictures of Death City on top of the scenery going by with her fingertip. "It's cold here." Maka turned to look at B.J. "its further north right? Near the mountains?"

"That's right Miss Maka." B.J. started grinding up some coffee beans in a bowl with a large stone. "Would you like some coffee when I'm done? A cup of Joe perhaps?"

Maka shook her head, "No thanks. Coffee stains your teeth." Maka turned away from B.J. and looked back out the window of the forest green van there were in: an older version of the modern day Volkswagen, with three rows of seats, not including the driver and passenger, as if they were installed separately. "So you usually reject models and the like right?" B.J. turned towards Maka as he sipped the newly made coffee.

"That's correct; I have enough income to travel around, so why make my job about people who I rather dislike."

"Dislike?" Maka thought back to Black Star being rejected.

_Well it makes sense that Black Star might rub some people the wrong way. But Tsubaki? _

"No, Scratch that, not dislike," B.J. put his finger on his chin, "rather people I am not interested in. People who are easy to read are not interesting at all. Though people are always telling me that curiosity killed the cat." B.J.'s eyes seemed to glance at Marie behind them, but Maka thought nothing of it.

Maka continued to think about what she had just heard, a person who is not easy to read himself, is interested in other people like himself.

_Yep, he's a weirdo. _

Maka averted her eyes, a bit frustrated, and turned out towards the window once more, "Weird people make the best company though."

"You have that right Miss Maka." B.J. answered, not fully understanding where the sudden statement came from, but yet not caring in the least.

**oOo**

"Bad mood Miss Maka?" B.J. laughed as he readjusted his camera on its stand.

"That Miss Maka of yours is starting to become annoying." Maka shivered in the white shirt and shorts that she was made to wear, "Where is the shoot going to be?" Maka stood behind B.J. looking behind him at the staff workers setting up the equipment.

"Right in front of you Miss Maka."

Maka urked at the uttering of the word 'miss' again. She turned towards B.J. when a sudden sheen came into view, making her eyes squint to see what was in front of her. Her vision cleared and the color blue shone in the morning sunlight. "A river?" Maka almost stumbled forward as she walked into the clearing and reached up towards the sun with both of her arms, feeling like she could clutch it to herself, "A river!" She suddenly ran forward into the river, kicking her feet about.

B.J. grinned behind the camera as he snapped shots of her flailing about, "Never been to a river before Miss Maka?"

Maka turned towards him and grinned, "Never!" She looked towards the sky again and tilted her head to and fro, feeling the rays of light warming up her body.

B.J.'s grin turned into a solemn look, "Why?"

Maka froze, before looking down towards the rushing water, passing by her feet, "No one ever took me, and I didn't think it would be this beautiful."

"Not even as a child?"

Maka's hand shot up towards her chest as she clutched the shirt where her heart would have been, "No, my papa was busy with work as soon as I got into middle school."

"Not in all of your sixteen years of life? What about your mother?" (A/N: Maka's age revealed!)

Maka turned towards B.J., a look of grief mixed with anxiety washed over her face; she stared at him with her green eyes that were reflecting the light of the flickering river beneath her.

"Done! Pack it up!" B.J. took one last shot before grabbing his camera stand and heading back to the van to load equipment. Maka flinched from the sudden outburst before calling out to him.

"Done already? Are you sure?" She made her way towards him.

"That's right, lots of good pictures you know." B.J. patted his camera bag before smiling at Maka, then climbing into the van with the rest of the staff, "Coming or would you wish to stay here?"

"Coming!" Maka yelped as she jumped into the van, remembering suddenly how cold it was outside. "Are we going to another place?" Maka buckled herself with a little difficulty.

"Many more after this Miss Maka. Of course we only have two more for today until the clouds come and begin to block the morning sun." B.J. looked out the window, "It would be a surprise if she sleeps through the whole thing." Marie lay in the seat next to him, asleep a little after he had told her not to be.

**oOo**

B.J. sipped his coffee as he adjusted his camera again, this time in a field of yellow flowers, to Maka's surprise, on a slight hillside. It the middle of a clearing in the woodlands.

"So you want me to frolic in the flowers?" Maka gripped the bottom of the yellow dress she was wearing, her hair in braids, different from the way she had had it down in the last area.

_More Black Star and Soul's style. Hand in hand they would frolic in friendship._

Maka chuckled to herself when she heard a snap of the camera. "So laugh and frolic at the same time?"

"Act natural." B.J. sipped his coffee, pinky up; looking quite awkward when matched with his muscular body and shaved head. Maka laughed, another snap.

"Natural is what I'm best at, it's seduction and love that feels awkward for me." Maka thought to her past experiences, "Not saying I can't!" She waved her hands in front of her defensively. "Just awkward."

B.J. didn't say anything for awhile, making Maka not knowing what to do, she spun in a circle before falling back onto a bed of flowers, breathing out a held breath. B.J. stood up, setting down his coffee and grabbing his camera, now slightly hovering over her. "Why do you model Miss Maka?"

Maka looked up at him before averting her eyes while slightly tilting her eyes to the side, "Because maybe it will make mama come back. If she sees I'm a famous model, maybe…just maybe."

"Come back? Why did she leave?"

Maka clutched the earth beneath herself, she turned towards the flowers to her right, "That's what I would like to know."

**oOo**

The van stopped in front the agency apartments late at night, the door opened to reveal a tired manager and her talent.

"Thank you for taking care of me." Maka bowed to B.J. as Marie talked on the phone a little ways away from them.

"I was the one taking shots of your inner soul, so I thank you. One step closer to your evolution." B.J. smiled towards her before noticing the nervously mumbling Marie behind Maka. "Problem?" He said loudly enough to catch her attention.

Marie turned towards him slowly and smiled nervously, the voice on the other side seemed to be talking nonstop. "How'd the shoot go? Umm…" Marie looked up at B.J. until he held out his hand and gestured the phone to be given to him.

He put the phone to his ear, "Hello, B.J. speaking." B.J. paused before answering the other person, "Oh, it was a pleasure Sir Spirit."

Maka flinched and looked up at B.J.

_Sir Spirit? Papa?_

Maka covered her mouth, trying not to let out the laugh, fearing her father would hear her if she did.

_I can't laugh but…'Sir Spirit'? _

She struggled to keep it in.

"Thank you for the opportunity, I'll be visiting headquarters with the results from today on the morning of tomorrow. Please relay that message to the President. Goodbye." B.J. snapped the phone closed and gave it back to Marie, "You owe me Miss Manager. Don't fall asleep next time."

Marie smiled shyly a bit, something that Maka had never seen before. Maka looked back towards B.J., than at Marie, than at B.J. again. Both of them ogling each other with their eyes.

"Have a good night's rest, we start again in two days on Thursday." B.J. hopped back into the van, giving Marie a wink before closing the door.

Maka pointed to the van as it drove away, than back at Marie, than back to the van, "Would you like to inform me about this or should I save you the embarrassment?" Marie snapped her head towards Maka and shook her head back and forth.

"See you tomorrow Maka, have a good rest!" She ran towards the parking lot of the complex. Maka chuckled, picking up her green duffle bag (A/N: It's always with her on jobs.) and made her way towards the gate.

She waved to the two guards at the door and walked in, making her way towards the elevator. She pressed the button and waited a bit until it finally arrived and she stepped on. A song by an Artist 'Kim' was playing, called 'Witch List.'

_Name's a pun, song is a rock out ballad. _

Maka swayed back and forth at the tune until the elevator dinged to her floor, "Gotta make sure to get that on my iPod." She stepped off hesitantly as her favorite part came on. She stopped as soon as she did, spotting someone, tall, curvy and extremely purple person in front of her door, ringing the doorbell over and over.

Maka slowly walked over towards the figure, readying her bag for impact on the person's head. "Hello?"

The woman turned to Maka and got a wryly smile on her face. "Maka?" She walked forward and reached her hand out, "Nice to meet nya." Maka reached out her hand and shook the woman's. As she did, she got a better look at her.

Long Legs, hourglass figure, huge chest area, and the face of a flirtatious cat, which Maka thought was the most appropriate way to describe it. She wore a purple pair of short shorts and a tank top that was obviously too small. Her purple hair bounced as she shook Maka's hand eagerly. "Nice to meet you too, umm?"

"Oh! I live next door." The woman smiled and held up an empty milk carton. "You have some milk I can borrow?"

_Oh! She must be Ox Ford right? But that's weird, her name doesn't match her appearance at all._

"Sure." Maka stepped towards her door.

"Soul was right, you really are utterly adorable Maka." The woman smiled as she twirled her finger in the air.

_Utterly adorable. Oh! That's what I forgot to ask him yesterday! And he acted like normal too. _

Maka's energy was literally pouring out of her as she slid into her apartment and grabbed some milk, before returning and handing it to the woman. "There you go."

"Thank you!" The woman gave Maka a hug, which Maka found quite strange, and uncomfortable since her chest was suffocating her. "The milk Soul brought last time was delicious. It's not 2% right? It's different really! By the way, my name is Blair, thank you again Maka~" Blair bounced to Maka's left, towards apartment 708 before opening the door and shutting it behind herself.

Maka stared at the door, her mind working as fast as she could make it work.

_Blair? Not Ox Ford? Apartment 708? Soul's Apartment. The milk Soul brought last time. Soul said it was for his cat. The voice when I first met him. Always worried about his 'cat.'_

_Soul's woman?_

Maka slumped back into the apartment, locking the door behind her as she lay onto the remains of the blankets used by Black Star and Soul earlier that morning.

"Soul has a woman?" Maka spoke out loud as she gripped the blankets underneath her, "Makes sense though, he _is _Soul Eater, the celebrity vocalist." Maka turned over and stared at the ceiling. "Didn't even ask him about the adorable thing and now I find out he has a woman."

Maka let out a frustrated moan.

_It's slightly shocking._

Maka's eyes shot open as she sat up from her previous lying down position, her eyebrows furrowed in a confused manner. "Why do I even care?"

Maka paused and turned towards her left, apartment 706.

"And who the hell is Ox Ford Then?" Maka yelled as she threw the pillow at the wall.

* * *

_**You have reached the end of this to review this story.**_

_**Haha, robot voice and the sentences above together sounds funny. **_

**_Thanks to everyone who has this story on their alerts and even added me as a favorite author, you guys are stupendous and I'm glad your enjoying this just as much as me. It means alot._**

**_Thank you reviewers!_**


	12. Her Answer

_**By far the longest chapter I've ever done. Just the length of it makes me exhausted thinking about how long it took me to type it up. Though I'm pretty proud of it and I enjoyed the time I spent on it.**_

_**Now go on with exuberance and enjoy the next chapter of...**_

_**Wonderful Nightmare**_

* * *

**Chapter 10: Her Answer **

The birds chirping could be heard from the terrace window, the morning rush still hadn't hit the streets as it was a little too early for it. Most people would be asleep, but the occupant of apartment 707 sat up in her bed, dazed and slightly angry.

"Dammit, it's still five o'clock." Maka rubbed the back of her head aggressively, not caring for appearances right at the moment. Apparently, she had gone to sleep at eleven, woken up at five, and not been able to go back to sleep since. "Damn dream about Soul cuddling a purple cat." She got up from her sitting position and walked over to her closet, grabbing the clothes she had prepped the evening before for her morning meeting with the Shibusen executives about her upcoming album. She shrugged as she pulled her shirt bottom off, making her hair an even bigger bird's nest. She glared at the pile of dirty clothes in the wooden laundry basket, "Guess I should do it soon huh? It's been a few days." She threw her pajama shirt into the basket and proceeded to the shower.

Maka clipped her hair up as she changed into her underwear. She turned towards the clock to check the time while slipping on her mid-thigh high black skirt, "Five-twenty." She growled at the fact that she wanted to spend an extra long time in the shower yet she subconsciously didn't because it wastes the hot water. She grabbed her white long sleeve dress shirt off its hanger and slipped it on. Not bothering with the thin black ribbon, which went where the tie usually would, being perfectly straight; it hung at a loose angle. She grabbed the long sleeve, burgundy button-up sweater with a Shibusen emblem on it off the other hanger and put it over her dress shirt before slipping on her knee high black socks. She let her hair down and combed her bangs to be straight.

Maka glanced at the clock again, "Five-forty. Might as well get there," Maka paused, "An hour and twenty minutes early." She grunted as she dragged her feet over to the door, bringing along with herself her green duffle bag. "Well, no harm in being prepared right?" She slipped on her shoes and opened the door, slipping out and locking it behind herself. As she walked down the walkway, she glanced at apartment 708. She wanted to give the door a good kick but didn't want it's occupant to come storming out and see her.

_I'll kick the real one for losing sleep later. _

She suppressed her anger with this thought and continued towards the elevator. She pressed the button and waited as the elevator had stopped on the eighth floor before continuing down. Maka zipped open her bag and shuffled for her phone when the doors opened. She glanced up from her situation to discover an even more dire situation going on in front of her. "Ah." Was all that came out of her mouth as the person inside the elevator stepped off immediately, angry, and turned to the right towards the stairs. "Hey, wait!" Maka stopped searching for her way to contact her manager and followed the person.

"Death the Kid!" Maka yelled to the figure that was on his way up to the eighth floor. "What are you doing?"

Kid turned around slowly and looked at Maka, his face showing pure loathing, "You don't expect me to ride that now do you?"

"It's already here though," Maka tried to reason, though was ignored as Kid continued up the stairs.

_That little. _

Maka looked down at her watch.

_Oh joy, I guess this is why I woke up early. Time to have some fun._

Kid paused on the stairs after he heard a persistent set of foot steps behind him. "Do you have nowhere to be right now?" Kid's annoyed tone showed in his voice.

"Says the busiest model in Shibusen," Maka gave him a gesture with her hand that would have been enough to drive Kid insane, though he decided against it. "Why didn't you get on the elevator, stair buddy?" Maka kept in a triumphant attitude that she so wanted to show.

Kid sighed before turning back towards Maka, "It stopped on floor number seven."

_Guess the hatred runs deep; he doesn't even want to stop on my floor. _

Maka was a bit taken back, "So you don't like the number seven?" She said sarcastically.

"Exactly! Do you know how unsymmetrical the number seven is? Utterly disgusting that the elevator would even dare to stop on that floor." Kid's movement as he spoke made himself look completely over dramatic.

Maka stopped dead in her tracks, "Ah." Was all she could say once more.

Kid stopped as he reached to top step of the stairs to floor eight, "18 steps. Not exactly what I would prefer but acceptable." Kid nodded to himself as he readjusted his suit, as if walking up stairs somehow threw it out of wack.

"Do you like things to be even or something?" Maka titled her head, still in her place half way up the stairs.

Kid looked back at Maka, in almost a stern way, he said, "Not even, Symmetrical. In symmetry is peace of mind and order, it is where all things should be and or drive to attain." Kid's eyes had a certain shine to them as he spoke so passionately, Maka chuckled a bit at his seriousness. She ran up the stairs to catch up to him as he strode off towards the eighth floor elevator.

"That's nice." Maka grinned.

"Hmm?" Kid looked over towards her disinterested, when suddenly, her actions shocked him, his eyes widened as he listened.

"Having something like that that you're passionate about. Gets me all inspired you know?" Maka gave him a soft smile as she looked up at him, her standing position proud and confident, and her face natural and serene while her arms were up in a 'pumped up' looking position.

He turned away quickly after realizing how long he had been staring at her, "So that's your type?"

Maka flinched at the familiar words, not sure if she heard right, she questioned him, "What?" The elevator dinged as it arrived at the eighth floor. Kid stepped on and pushed the button for the lobby, ignoring her question.

_Even if I ask him again, he won't answer._

Maka stepped onto the elevator, deciding to ignore what he said as he himself had done. She paused to think out his actions before she had an epiphany, "Oh! And the number eight is symmetrical right?" Maka snapped her fingers as she looked up towards Kid, who made no motion to answer.

_Which means the answer is 'yes' or 'no you ignorant fool!' _

Maka laughed outwardly, forgetting that only she can hear her innermost thoughts. She stifled her laughter after noticing Kid's harsh gaze.

_The first one, definitely. _

The elevator dinged at floor six.

**oOo**

Maka laughed as she followed Kid up the stairs once more. Kid's body shook with fury as she continued to make fun at his expense. He held it until about half way up the stairs.

"If you're going to follow me, than at least make your steps match mine!" Kid huffed at her before continuing up the stairs.

Maka's laughter ceased as she did as he asked, but persisted until they reached the elevator, "Whatever floats your boat." She chuckled.

**oOo**

The elevator made its way to the lobby floor in awkward silence. It seemed as though it was a bit too early for the elevator to have any music playing, meaning that Maka and Kid had seemingly nothing to talk about.

"So," Maka started, "You going to work." She fumbled her hands, trying to figure out which position would make her look the most relaxed, though it wasn't really working.

Kid stopped the conversation just as soon as it started, "Since that was a statement, I have no reason to answer."

Maka stated her previous words differently this time, "Oh, then, You going to work now?"

Kid grunted before replying, slightly annoyed that she would ask again, "Yes."

"Yeah, work is fun." Maka rubbed the back of her head, as if it would somehow stop her from stating the obvious.

"Yes." Kid answered in the same tone as the previous one, making Maka even more at loss at how to reply to him.

"Um, so hey," Maka suddenly remembered the message that Marie had passed onto her from Kid, "You know that message you gave to Marie? What did you mean? It slightly confused me you know?"

Kid turned and looked down at Maka, making her flinch and turn away.

"I mean, I'd understand if you didn't want to say anything." Maka fumbled her hands even more now, making her bob slightly on the elevator.

Kid put his hands to his face, as if he was trying to wipe something off of it. He turned to Maka after this motion, "I'm sorry."

Maka stumbled backwards, not sure how to take his 'sorry' as.

_I'm sorry you exist? I'm sorry for myself having to be here with you of all people?_

"What?" Maka furrowed her brow, confused and a bit disoriented. "What for?"

Kid looked away from her, "Is it that shocking? I am a human being." Kid readjusted his suit, "Everyone reacts like this when I say I'm sorry, it's not that weird is it?" Kid put his hands into his pockets, leaving Maka to fix her bumbling self herself. Kid waited as Maka did, speaking again when he felt she was steady enough, "What I meant by the message is that during the photo shoot, you had the most amazing symmetry when the lights shone on you, that I lost myself, lost in absolute symmetry, like floating on air." Kid did a fluttery motion with his hands, a bit silly looking, but Maka didn't laugh, as she was still recovering from her previous moment. Kid suddenly stopped his fluttery motion, putting his hands back into his pockets, "But I was tricked. Here I was, embracing the image of perfect symmetry and as soon as the lights go off, it slipped out of my hands just as easily as it would have slipped in." He turned towards Maka annoyed, "No more of that, understand?"

Maka nodded her head, remaining silent, giving Kid a moment to speak up once more, "For not telling you earlier, since it was obviously confusing, I am sorry." Kid gave Maka a polite bow before standing up straight as he was before they began talking, completely composed once more.

Maka, who had just returned to her senses, parted her lips to speak.

"More questions?" Kid made a small sound, something that of a chuckle, but Maka couldn't see his expression, as he was turned away from her.

"Um, then you don't utterly hate me. Or find me disgusting?" Maka leaned against the wall of the elevator, hoping to get a better view of his face.

"Hate you? No, hate the way that every time I see you there's always a piece of your clothing that is unsymmetrical. Yes." Kid nodded to himself, "You disgust me? No, the way your flower hair clip had twelve flowers instead of eleven, utterly disgusting. I mean really, if you had everything about yourself out of whack, than I would have been less critical, but it's always just one little thing. Completely annoying." Maka chuckled as Kid went on and on about her past symmetrical outfit disasters.

_He's not that bad of a guy._

The elevator doors opened at floor one with no interruptions. Kid stepped out quickly, not wanting to risk the doors closing and taking him up to another floor. Maka followed him to the front of the building outside, still laughing, "It's like symmetry is the answer for everything huh? Didn't expect to hear that word so many times in one conversation."

"You're the one who followed me up the stairs." Kid huffed at her, "Oh, I forgot to say, just because I don't hate you, doesn't mean I like you."

Maka nodded, "Yeah, Yeah." Maka waved her hand at him, slight sarcasm in her actions. "I don't like you either." Maka smiled menacingly at him.

Kid didn't flinch, but instead of retorting, he walked a bit in front of Maka and pointed to her chest, "Fix that before I throw up." He continued towards the parking lot of the apartment complex, leaving an irritated Maka at the sidewalk of the bus stop.

Maka looked down to where he pointed, "So I'm flat-chested. So what?" Maka huffed before noticing the way her black ribbon was titled in a most irregular way. Maka looked back to the direction Kid went, and kicked the ground, "Drama queen." She fixed her ribbon until the bus arrived.

**oOo**

"Why did you wake up so early Maka?" Marie rubbed her tired eyes, despite the fact that it was already six o' clock in the afternoon.

"It's not my fault that you decided to go drinking with the vice-president." Maka sipped some more water as she got changed in her dressing room.

Marie banged on the door apologetically, "I'm sorry Maka! It won't happen again alright! I want to see your photos from you promotional album, so forgive me alright?"

Maka slipped back into her burgundy sweater before reaching into her bag for her socks, making a package fall out, "It's my fault anyway. I didn't call you until I was already here after all. The bus was no big deal; it was too early and not a lot of old people recognize me." Maka opened the door and threw the package to the excited Marie.

Marie had a hop in her step as she struggled to open it due to her excitement, "Just one more shoot next week Maka! Then you're album is out. How long has it been already? About two weeks right? I'm amazed he finished it so quickly actually." Marie slid one of the photos out of the package, "Oh Maka! I like this one! These are copies right? Can I have it?"

Maka slid on her shoes, "You can have all of them, I haven't even looked at them myself."

Marie held the package to her chest, "You haven't? Why?"

"I want to be surprised," Maka grinned, "Besides, the album is about my evolution right? I'm not going to look back until the final copy comes out."

"Oh Maka! You're becoming so mature," Marie hooked her arm onto Maka's right, "Now let's go to a dinner party! Just for you!"

Maka stopped, making Marie, who was about to hop off at full speed, be pulled back, "Party? For me? Since when?"

Marie unhooked herself from Maka, looking down at the ground as she twiddled her fingers together, "Well not necessarily for _you_."

"Marie." Maka sternly looked at her.

"Okay Okay, it's for Soul's return from his in country tour. You know he's been gone since you started working on your album right? Well he's back! Let's go!" Marie tried to hook Maka's arm again, but Maka dodged her.

"No thanks." Maka walked past her, no buddy-buddy arm link in progress.

"Black Star, Tsubaki, Kim, the Thompson sisters, Kilik, Fire, Thunder, Ox, Harvar, Jacqueline, the Shibusen President and Vice president, even some other companies' talents are going to be there. It'll be huge, maybe the hugest of the season." Marie waved her finger in a twisting motion as she listed everyone, trying not to forget anyone.

"Oh really? I'm so glad to go to a party when I don't even know a fourth of the people there." Maka grinned sarcastically.

"Maka! I'm sure you know them by name!"

"But that doesn't mean I've met them."

"Well here's your chance to!" Marie looked at Maka expectantly.

Maka paused in the hallway, thinking about having to meet a hundred some odd people and still be expected to remember their names. "No thanks." Maka waved her hand in the air, dismissing the thought.

_Besides, I need to get the laundry done today._

"Well I'm going," Marie pouted.

"Good for you."

**oOo**

Maka held onto her gut as she watched the evening variety show on television, she laughed as she folded her now clean clothes.

"Alright. All done." Maka got up with the folded clothes and stored them inside a drawer in her closet. She pulled the closet shut and plopped back down onto the floor pillow. She took a drink of her orange juice and let out a breath.

"Now this is the life. To think, I could be prancing around in uncomfortable high heels, an uncomfortable dress, and heavy earrings all while pretending to be nice to another stuck up movie star." Maka nodded at her accurate description of a stereotypical celebrity dinner party.

Maka stood up and did a turn before reciting a line, "Oh my, a dance with me?" She did a short dance shuffle over to the kitchen, "Oh yes, you're from that one commercial, nice to meet you."

A few loud knocks from the door made Maka do a tiptoe dance over to it, forgetting that she was still in character, she opened the door, "I never expected you to be so handsome in person." She laughed.

"Thanks, I get that a lot." A raspy voice answered her.

Maka's laughter ceased as a figure passed by her, making their way into the apartment. She turned to the person and looked on in astonishment. "H-hey, why are you here?"

The person looked up at her with his deep red eyes, "I'm not the only one." He pointed to the still opened doorway, "Black Star's here too."

Black Star made his way past the still dumbfounded Maka, "You brought the drinks right Soul?" Black Star sat down across from the person, Soul, and reached into the plastic bag, grabbing a soda and popping the lid.

"Shut the door will ya?" Soul motioned for Maka to sit between himself and Black Star, who was now absorbed with the variety show that Maka had been watching.

Maka gave in and made her way towards the table. She opened her mouth to ask a question before she was interrupted.

"The party will go on just fine without us, I doubt anybody will even notice we left." Soul looked up at Maka, "Your manager said you couldn't make it, though I expected you to have no real reason and just be sitting at home fooling around, so no worries." He directed his attention towards the television. Both him and Black Star were now watching with intensity.

_Freeloaders. _

Maka ruffled the back of her hair and sat down to watch the show with them. It wasn't as funny as before, since Black Star's laughter was completely over the top every time a joke was told.

"It's a shame that you didn't go though, when we left, everyone was dancing and cheering." Soul's eyes didn't move from the television screen.

"Huh?" Maka turned to look at him, slightly confused since she was so absorbed with the show.

"The party."

"Oh."

"Kid didn't go either right? Something about official business, some photo shoot he couldn't miss." Black Star chimed in, "Both of you missed the great Black Star and his epic dance." Black Star pulled his eyes away from the screen and grinned at Maka.

Maka thought for a second.

_Kid didn't go. Than he's most likely home by now. Oh!_

Maka stood up suddenly, making Soul flinch out of his concentration on the game variety show.

"I'll be right back!" She ran out of the room and out the door.

**oOo**

"My new friend." Maka grinned as she pushed her friend into the room.

"Who's new friend?" The person answered back angrily. "I told you I had nothing to do but that doesn't mean I want to hang out."

"When did you two become so close? I've never seen you talk together besides that time at work." Soul made a fake smirk, half teasing, half something else.

"Acquaintances, Friends, Strangers, for some reason, I end up having all of them come into my room unwelcomed so what's the difference anymore?" Maka pushed the person to take a seat.

Black Star was watching the television, not paying any attention until he caught something sitting down next to him out of the corner of his eye, "Kid."

"Black Star." Kid repeated his name right back at him.

Maka sat down at her previous position at the table and grinned at the three of them, who now looked at her like she was going crazy.

_Better having Kid here plus two numbskulls over just two numbskulls. _

Maka smiled at her intelligence, "Then again, a foursome would get even more attention." She thought for a moment.

"I'd rather not ask you what you meant by that." Kid turned to the sodas on the table, claiming one of his own.

"Why not? I'm in the mood." Soul laughed, he turned to Kid after he finished, "Hey, didn't you have agency related work today? Then again, your dad was at the party, so I guess you finished early."

"That's right, earlier than expected, so I decided to do some readjusting in my room." Kid nodded firmly.

"Hmm? Your dad was at the party Kid?" Maka leaned forward, outwardly showing her interest.

"Yes, Shinigami was at the party today. He should still be there with Stein right now."

"I see," Maka nodded, a scan for the name Shinigami ran through her brain before she remembered, "Wait, your dad's Shibusen's President!" Maka pointed at Kid like he was a side attraction.

"That's Right." Kid answered quickly.

"I see." Maka answered just as quickly, this time with no interest in her voice at all.

Soul looked at both of them, "What are you two? A comedy duo?" Soul got up and stumbled over to the kitchen. "Got any noodles Maka?"

Maka looked over to see where he was, getting up when she realized it would be faster if she got them herself, "Yeah, I put them on the top of the fridge this time." She got up and made her way into the kitchen.

Black Star jumped up from the table, as if suddenly remembering what he came over for, besides the act of freeloading, "Hey Guys! Get over here!" Black Star started searching his messenger bag for something. "C'mon C'mon!"

Maka turned back from the kitchen to see what the sense of urgency was about, "Alright." She pulled Soul away from the pack of instant noodles and sat him down.

"Hey! You know they didn't have any noodles at the party!" Soul huffed.

"Why would they?" Maka questioned Soul, who looked away from her, since he had nothing to retort with.

"Here!" Black Star pulled out a manila package and emptied its contents onto the table. Pictures of Maka and Kid, around thirty of them, series of shots that were taken, fell out.

"Oh," Maka leaned over onto the table, resting her elbows onto it, "From the chocolate commercial right?"

"Marie trusted me with them. No surprise," Black Star boasted.

Maka ignored the narcissistic Black Star and continued to look at all of them, along with Kid who was shuffling them back and forth. Soul stared at the pile of them, not making a move for them in the least.

"This one turned out well," Kid picked up one of the more intimate ones. "Actually all of them did."

"Right, right." Maka agreed with him, "I'm surprised she's just getting them now."

Black Star picked up one of them, "She said that she forgot to give 'em to ya."

Maka laughed, "That's so like her."

Soul's eyes glazed over the stack of photos before returning to Maka's face, "Hey Maka."

"Hmm?" Maka's gaze met his, her confidence shrinking before it.

"Why are you a model?" Soul stopped himself, then explained himself, "I mean, it suits you, yeah, but what's the reason for it?"

Maka set the photo down, not sure how to answer him.

_I…I don't want him to know._

She laughed, catching all three guys by surprise, she picked up a photo and flicked it at him gingerly, "Well if you've got it, flaunt it." She smiled flirtatiously.

Soul stood up, leaving the drinks on the table, and looked down on Maka, "Not that I disagree with you but," Soul scratched the back of his head, "I just expected better from you." Soul walked out of the door of the apartment, shutting it a bit harder than usual behind him.

Kid got up after Soul left, looking back at Maka like Soul had done before him, "Sickening." He left the same way Soul had before him.

"Ah, there it is again." Maka laid her head in her hands before ruffling her hair aggressively. She turned towards Black Star, expecting him to leave as well. Instead, he stared at her for awhile than laid onto the floor, using the floor pillow as a head pillow , he turned his body away from her and laid onto his side. "You're not leaving?"

"No." He answered her quickly.

"Sleeping here then?" Maka peeked over his shoulder to see his sleeping and snoring face. "That's a yes than." She put her head into her hands once more. "Hey Black Star?" She titled her head into his direction, "thanks."

**oOo**

"I'm surprised you called me out here Miss Maka." B.J. smiled behind the camera lens that was focusing on Maka, who was sitting on the edge of the Death City Park's fountain.

"I had nothing to do at home."Maka held down pulled her hair out of her face due to the light breeze blowing through. No one was there besides Maka and B.J. and the rest of the Death City residents who were all passing through the park on this bright sunny day.

"Something happened." B.J. didn't question it, somehow he just knew.

Maka looked towards B.J., "I…I didn't want him to know. He asked me why I model and I didn't tell him the truth." Maka looked down towards the fountain water and ran her hand through the water before flicking her fingers up, making water droplets fly off of her fingertips.

"What did you tell him?" B.J. continued to take pictures nonchalantly.

"I told him 'if you've got it, flaunt it.'"

B.J. set the camera away from his face for a brief moment, so as not to drop it while he laughed, "You are truly unpredictable Miss Maka." He fitted it back in front of him so as to continue taking shots.

"It's not funny." Maka pouted, "well it sort of is."

"Why tell him that though? The real reason. That you are doing it to make your mother come back."

Maka rubbed her upper arm and looked down, "I didn't want him to think my reason was irrelevant and childish. I didn't want him to think less of me." Maka looked back up, confused, "For whatever reason."

"I understand Miss Maka, but that leaves one question unanswered. Do you believe your reason is irrelevant and childish." B.J.'s camera didn't stop clicking pictures of Maka's reactions.

Maka gripped her chest, "I-I don't!" She yelled at B.J. "B-but! I'm starting to feel. Feel like what I've been doing up until now is all wrong. I-I've been thinking and I-I truly believe that I enjoy modeling! Even now! Watching you stupidly hold that camera with your pinky up, taking pictures of me, my heart is racing and the excitement is building. I'm having fun and I don't think that's a bad reason at all!" Maka gripped her chest, her eyes slightly glazed over, on the brink of producing tears.

"So your reason is different now. And a wonderful reason it is, filled with beauty and emotion." B.J. smiled at Maka, who returned it with a soft smile, "Miss Maka, you have just evolved. And guess what? We just finished your album two weeks early, congratulations. Good thing I scheduled the release meeting for tomorrow morning."

"Wha-Hey!" Maka stood up from the rim of the fountain, "You knew this would happen didn't you?" Maka wiped her eyes, making sure that any tears that might've formed wouldn't show.

"I didn't expect your reason to change, but I did predict you would allow me to complete this album today." B.J. laughed heartily, so much so that Maka couldn't help but laugh with him.

"Yes!" Maka turned towards the fountain and raised both of her fists into the air.

B.J. took one last picture, "Evolution complete."

**oOo**

Maka breathed in and out, "Steady Breaths, Steady Breaths." She stepped out onto a stage and sat down at the white long table, the quiet room filled with reporters suddenly became restless. "Hello." Maka said into the microphone.

"Miss Maka Albarn! You are looking stunning in that Shibusen cardigan if I say so myself!" One reporter spoke out amongst the rest.

"Thank you." Maka nodded and made a soft smile.

"The Album is called 'Evolution,' do you believe you have fully 'evolved' since beginning this album?"

Maka leaned forward, "Yes," she didn't elaborate on her words, but instead kept it short and sweet.

"The front cover is-"

Maka interrupted the reporter, "I'd like to keep this short if you all would cooperate, that would be great. You see this was scheduled just between two jobs, so before I go I'd like to say one thing."

Maka took a breath in, than out, "I love my job."

Maka stood up from her seat, "Thank you." She walked off the stage, being swarmed by reporters with more questions as soon as she did.

"What do you mean by, 'I love my job'?"

Maka turned to him, "It's fun."

"Do you have anything else to say?"

Maka noticed that this time, it wasn't a reporter for a magazine or website, but instead, a cameraman for a television show. Maka grinned and got up close to the camera, "Hey B.J., remember when you said that people tell you that 'curiosity killed the cat.' Satisfaction brought it back."

* * *

_**Thank you for reading the tenth chapter of Wonderful Nightmare. I feel as though I ranted a bit at the beginning, but then I liked how it turned out so I decided to leave it as is.  
**_

_**Review because it makes Soul and Maka happy (as always)**_


	13. For His Eyes Only

_**Oh! So this was a lot faster than I expected. I'm glad I was able to do this so quickly (not to mention that I am quite happy of how it turned out once more) So I hope you enjoy it just as much as I did.**_

_**Read On to Chapter 11 of…**_

_**Wonderful Nightmare**_

* * *

_**Chapter 11: For His Eyes Only**_

Maka shifted through some of her belongings, "I swear I put it in here." She scratched her head, dumbfounded, "Darn it, I got the day off today because I finished the interview yesterday and I can't even find it!" She slumped down onto the table and made growling sounds, "Argh!" She banged her head on the table. "Tired." Too frustrated to even lift up her head, she closed her eyes and started to breathe in and out lightly.

A banging on the door interrupted her brief moment of solitude. She set her hands on the table and pushed herself up, slumping over to the door before opening it slowly. "I should've known." She ruffled the back of her head. "What does the infamous Soul Eater have in store for me today?"

"Change into this." Soul pushed the bag towards her chest, practically forcing her to take it so that it didn't fall onto the floor. He pushed his way into her apartment, "Unless you want to make me think you need help putting it on, you should stop looking at me like that."

Maka looked into the bag, "What exactly do I gain from this?" Maka peered into the boutique bag and starting shuffling the items in it around, "Are these new?"

"Just Trust Me." Soul sat down at the table, "Hurry alright?"

**oOo**

Maka stepped out of the front door of the Shibusen Talent Agency Apartment Complex, fully decked out in navy blue jeans, white v-neck shirt with a gray undershirt, and leather dark brown jacket with light brown boots. Her hair was let down and bangs combed straight by Soul, who said the pigtails look wasn't really going to work with the outfit.

"Do people really like this hairstyle for me? I swear, it's so troublesome, every time the wind blows, it just goes whichever way it wants to." Maka tugged a bit at her hair, missing the usual loose pigtails she wears at home.

"It looks good on you." Soul, who was walking beside her in jeans, a black belt with chains and a plaid black and red long sleeve shirt with various designs on the pockets and back, pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Maka stared at him as they walked towards the bus stop.

Soul noticed the look she was giving him and he shuffled his phone back into his back pocket, "What?"

Maka turned away from him, "Oh, just, not like you to give compliments."

Soul laughed, which made Maka flinch, since she had no clue what the reason was for the sudden outburst of laughter, "I think I owe you that much."

"Owe me?" Maka asked puzzled.

"Hey put these on," Soul handed her a pair of huge sunglasses, the kind that celebrities are usually seen wearing, they were shaded a tint of brown.

Maka took the glasses, "Of course he doesn't answer my question." She put them on and stuck her hands in her pockets. "So what's the occasion?"

Soul looked down the road, "A date," he took out a pair of black shaded sunglasses for himself, "The Bus is coming."

**oOo**

"I don't believe it." Maka walked angrily, her arms crossed, down the street.

"Oh you caught me." Soul smirked at her anger, drawing all the more attention to themselves after he showed his ever sexy celebrity smile. People glanced at the two of them as they passed by, many mumbled things about their showy appearances, mostly the guys who passed by anyway.

"Hey, take a look at that, you check out her legs?"

"Oh yeah, what I wouldn't give. Looks like she has a man though."

"He's nothing, I could take him."

"They should know that we can hear them." Soul clicked his teeth, displeased with the way he was being belittled.

"Are they really that long looking? I always thought they were stubby." Maka took longer steps so she could take more glances at her legs.

"They are, always will be." Soul flipped out his phone again, this time staring at the screen for a longer time than the last.

"How kind of you." Maka returned to her normal walking stance, making sure to manage in a stomp on his foot before doing so.

Soul recoiled his foot, limping a bit afterwards, though still managing to stick his phone back into his pocket, "Well while we're sharing secrets, you should know that I found Black Star's new album in your mp3 player."

Maka turned to and smiled fakely him, "I'm resisting the urge to kick you in the shin right now, since we're attracting too much attention at the moment." She motioned towards the people who were now stopping to take a second glance at them.

Soul took a glance around them, "Oh, should we give them something to look at?" Soul turned towards Maka, smirking his every annoying smirk. Maka didn't answer him, but instead kept on walking in front of him, forcing him to move along and follow her. "You don't even know where we're going do you?"

Maka shifted the glasses on her face, "Anywhere's better than being here with your flashy self."

Soul stepped in front of her, "We're almost there." He stopped at a crosswalk and turned right, heading across the street along with the group that had already been doing so.

Maka walked quickly to keep up with him.

_We're too far from the apartments for me to head back without even doing anything anyways. _

Maka shrugged to herself while she followed Soul into a building that had the words, 'Noodle Gods,' on the front of it. Maka contemplated the thought of such a thing, not exactly paying any attention to her surroundings. "Noodles with holy powers. Special attack, Shaky Noodle!" She laughed as she imagined a giant noodle wobbling back and forth in front of evil doers, forgetting that she wasn't by herself. Soul, who had been apparently speaking with the chef of the Noodle restaurant, stopped his conversation mid-sentence, surprised by her sudden outburst.

He turned back towards the chef, "And make sure her noodles are extra fresh, don't want her to go any more insane than she already has." The chef laughed heartily before returning to his work.

"It's called imagination." Maka sat down at the counter seat, making sure that her body language showed how dissatisfied she was.

"It's called 'insanity.'" Soul mocked her. He took the seat next to her and took the glasses off of his face, making Maka start to become paranoid.

"H-hey, are you sure you can just take those off?" She looked around worried; trying to make sure that no one had noticed him yet.

"It's fine; a lot of celebrities come here to eat." Soul peered over the counter to check on the status of his noodles.

"Yeah, a lot of Soul Eater's just pass by through here every day." Maka shifted her elbows onto the counter and rested her face into her palms.

"Two special orders, on the house," the chef placed two bowls of noodles with condiments in front of Soul and Maka, "for the pretty lady." The chef pointed to Maka with his thumb and gave a smile before returning to the kitchen.

Maka watched the chef leave, and then turned to Soul, "Hey, hey, he called me pretty."

Soul picked up his chopsticks and separated them, "I didn't know that you get you jollies off of old men calling you pretty." He slurped up some of his noodles.

"Jollies? I swear, B.J. seems to be influencing everyone these days," Maka shuddered at the thought of everyone using such words, in the same way that B.J. always did during breaks from her shoot. "And that's not it." She leaned over her bowl of noodles and dipped her chopsticks in, swirling them around.

Soul noticed that she was still wearing the sunglasses he gave her and chuckled, "You're fogging them up with the steam, and I told you it was fine to take them off." He leaned in front of her to reach for them. "And what do you mean 'that's not it?'"

Maka avoided his hand unconsciously, taking them off herself, "If I can make people happy like that, I feel like I've done my job well." She slurped a lot of noodles.

"It's just an appearance," Soul returned to his noodles, a bit less enthusiastic now.

"Appearance is just a part of it. It's all about attitude Soul." Maka pointed her chopsticks at Soul, "Attitude!" She dipped them back into the noodles to grab a piece of meat.

"Yeah, pretty sure you have a lot of that going on." Soul reached into his pocket for his cell phone and while checking it, he dipped chopsticks back into the bowl, but missed it completely because Maka had pulled the bowl away from him.

"Noodles confiscated." She began to eat his share of noodles along with her own.

"You," Soul gave up, slipped his phone back into his pocket and rested his head in his palm, "You're really going to get a lot of carbohydrates from that you know."

Maka turned to him, laying his now empty bowl of noodles in front of him, "I know. That's why we're going to jog back home." Soul laughed at her as she finished off her own noodles.

Soul raised his hand, "Chef, another special bowl!"

**oOo**

"Do I just press the button?" Maka's eyes scanned over the controls.

"How should I know?" Soul scratched his head, "It's kind of cramped isn't it?"

"Okay! I think I got it!" Maka turned towards Soul, who had joined her in front of a standing photo booth, in which a curtain was behind them, blocking them from pedestrian view. "Take off your glasses!" Maka took her glasses off and grinned into the camera, eyeing Soul to make sure he did the same.

The click went off once, before giving another warning that it was going to take another one in three seconds. Maka made a different face, and nudged Soul to do the same. Another click, another countdown. Maka looked over at Soul, who was now disinterested, and for some reason, was trying to inch his way away from her as much as possible. Maka reached up and grabbed his face, raising his cheeks into a smile, against his will.

He broke free from her grip, "What the heck Maka?"

Maka ignored his outrage and looked at the screen to see how they turned out, "Ooh, it turned out pretty good." Soul peered over her shoulder to see what she was doing; he flinched when she turned around suddenly, "Look Soul, You're Super Mario!" Soul looked at the screen, in which Maka had taken a Super Mario cap and moustache and pasted them on his face in each photo, making the last of the photos looks especially horrible.

Soul touched the screen for more options before Maka could hit the print button, "If I'm Mario, then you're my Luigi." He dragged a Luigi hat and moustache onto her face in each picture.

Maka laughed and pushed for a castle background in one of them, a Yoshi egg background in another and a golden star background in the last one. She wrote their names at the bottom of each in different font, "Print!" She pushed the print button.

"Hey wait!" Soul was watching the pictures change, not realizing that she was really going to go for the moustache, he had blanked out. The pictures came out at the bottom, each one a sticker, "You actually printed it." He shook his head at the shame of his bushy moustache.

"A copy for each of us," She handed him a copy of the three picture stickers and slipped back on her glasses, "C'mon Soul."

Soul put on his glasses as she had done and started to follow her, he pulled out his phone and stared at it with a black face, when he looked up, she wasn't walking in front of him anymore in that cheerful way she had been doing ever since they left 'Noodle Gods.' He looked around frantically, calming down when he saw she had stopped just a few feet behind him and was staring at a poster display in the window of the book store. He walked back to her. "Hey, what is it?" He stood behind her and moved his head back and forth to see what she was looking at.

Maka moved forward a step and turned towards him, "Hey, I'll be right back alright?" She walked into the store, leaving Soul to lounge outside until she came out again. He didn't follow her, thinking that if he did, it wouldn't be in his best interests, since there were probably going to be magazines of his face everywhere. Maka walked over to the 'new releases' section of the store. Her eyes scanned the shelves for that familiar cover. She stopped mid-search, finally finding what she was looking for.

**oOo**

Maka left the bookstore to find Soul waiting for her near a railing for the street.

He stood up when he saw her come out, "Took you long enough," Maka walked over to him, he started to walk with her down the sidewalk again, "Any longer and I would've ended up on television again."

Maka thought back to the celebrity news special, when they had 'spotted Soul Eater,' she laughed.

"So what did you buy?" Soul flipped out his phone to check it again, making Maka think that answering his question without his full attention would be a waste of time, but she did it anyway.

"I lost my copy of my new album. So I bought another one. This was one of the last three left in the store apparently." She reached into the book store bag and pulled out her album, 'Evolution,' the front cover featuring a photo of herself, standing next to a snowman, herself and it wearing matching scarves, her cheeks flushed a light pink from the cold, only her nose up showed from the neck of her jacket. Her hair in its usually loose ponytails, "I told him not to take a picture of it." Maka laughed.

Soul slid his phone back into his pocket and took a glance at the album in her hands, "At least it's not a bikini picture on the cover like most of the albums are these days. Then again, that muscle head, B.J., is the one who took this one, so it's different from those."

"Soul?" Maka looked up at Soul, who didn't return the glance, "Why the 'date'?"

Soul still didn't look at her, but smirked once more, "Well, I owe you for not listening to your whole story about the reason you model. I should've known that there was more to it than you were letting on. Sorry about that."

"Thought so. And it's no problem, don't worry about it." Maka looked back down at her album, the mood was getting tense. "Sorry to say, you're scheme was obvious." Maka started to laugh again, lifting the mood that was about to go into a pitfall.

Soul returned her laugh, "When'd you notice-"His laughter stopped when his pocket started to vibrate suddenly, he reached in and pulled out his cell. This time cringing by what was on it, he answered the phone. "Yeah?" He didn't look at Maka, who didn't look at him either. "Right. Wasn't that settled already? Another one? Alright. Yeah. Okay." He hung up the phone and looked at Maka, his cringe still shown on his face.

She turned back towards him and grinned, "Go then slacker!" She held up her hand for a hi-five. Soul was unsure at first, though returned the hi-five anyway. He turned on his heel and started to sprint in the other direction.

He yelled to her before he got too far away, "Don't look at it without me!" He pointed to her hands and ran off.

Maka looked down at her hands, the album in its bag sat temptingly. "No fair. Get your own damn copy!" She yelled.

**oOo**

Maka took a look at the person in front of her. "So, you're Ox Ford?"

_Not really what I expected._

The person in front of her readjusted his glasses, making them almost blind Maka with the gleam that radiated off of them and his weirdly bald head, "Correct, co-manager for the time period in which you will be working on this project." His hair that looked like lightning bolts on the side of his head didn't move as he worked, making Maka's eye twitch at the annoyance of it all.

"Nice to meet you." Maka bowed to him, not very fond of him in any way. She turned towards Marie, who was sitting next to her in the lounge of the supposed meeting place for her next job proposal, "Though I haven't accepted it yet." She gave Marie a stern glare.

"Not what I have been reported." Ox shuffled through various papers.

_I don't like him already._

Maka held back the urge to break his glasses then and there, so as to save herself from the future torture, "I haven't though, since it is something I've never done before."

Ox looked back up at Maka, "Are you backing down from this challenge?"

Maka stood up and pumped her fists, "No!"

Ox looked back down, satisfied, "Than I look forward to working with you."

_Tricked!_

Maka sat back down, deflated. Marie next to her tried her best to keep Maka's anger off of herself, "Maka as a boy for her next ad though seemed a bad idea at first. However, cross-dressing as a boy for a few pages in this magazine would increase her female fan base. I'm glad the president thought so as well and provided us with this job instead of another model. Thus, we are thankful." Marie picked up the month's 'DC' magazine, which always features celebrity news.

Maka grunted at Marie's enthusiasm to have her dress up as a boy. In truth, Maka wasn't really sure how to take this offer as.

_Weird that they even have anything like this. I've never seen any other model do something like this before either, at least not in Shibusen. _

Maka rubbed the back of her head.

_It's interesting though isn't it?_

_For some reason, I'm slightly excited._

Maka felt her excitement increase as Ox Ford went over the details.

* * *

_**More ranting right? But I can't help but do it whenever it's Maka w**__**ith another Male, in a weird situation. Thank You All for Reading and Reviewing and Supporting this Story!**_

_**Review, because Maka and Soul get their "jollies" off of it. **_


	14. Never a Promise to Begin With

**__****_Oh! I'm sort of unsure about this one because of a certain part in it. (I'm biting my fingernails over it! So nervous!) This chapter was supposed to be longer than this but then I really liked the ending so of course I'm hoping you'll agree with me._**

**_I'm going on vacation two days from now, and there will be no internet! No! But no worries, despite no internet, I'm taking my computer along to type so yay! The next update will be in about a week, but I may upload more then one chapter! No promises though (no pun intended with the chapter title)_**

**__****_So here's chapter 12 of Wonderful Nightmare_**

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**_Chapter 12: Never a Promise to Begin With_**

Maka scratched her head furiously, trying to drain out the laughter of the person sitting with her in her apartment. "I understand it's funny but there's no reason be that loud about it."

The said laughing person, Black Star, held onto his gut as he continued to bang the table in agony, not sparing any words in between his large laughter. Maka looked over towards her bookshelf next to her television, oh so tempted to shut up the loud annoyance. Black Star stopped laughing long enough to actually get a word in, "But it's like there's no difference between normal you and cross-dressing you! I've never been offered something like that!" He rolled around on the floor in his excitement.

Maka pouted, frustrated with how he still continued to laugh at her, soon her voice became mocking, "That's because you aren't girly enough."

Black Star immediately shot up from his position on the floor, putting on a rather serious face, and pumped his biceps up, "Are you saying the great Black Star isn't womanly enough?" Black Star spat out the words as if it was far from the truth, which it was in Maka's mind, just not quite the way he was thinking it was, "I'll show you what it means to be a _real_ woman!"

Maka's mouth dropped open, almost astounded at the way the conversation was going. Her cell phone vibrating on the table drew away her attention from the murder scene that she was about to drop on him, "Hello?" She picked it up quickly before Black Star could react.

A squeal came from the other end of the phone, making Maka move it away from her ear instinctively. She looked towards the caller I.d., something she should've done before she picked it up. Maka put the call on speaker phone, worried for her eardrums, "Hey Papa."

The voice on the other side had a slight buzz in the background, making her father's voice even more annoying than she already found it to be. "Your new job! I know no matter what my Maka does she'll be the twinkle of everyone's eyes."

Maka looked away from the phone as her father continued to rant about how proud he was and about some other things that she couldn't make sense of. Maka flinched when she remembered the current situation she had inside of her apartment. She looked down at Black Star, who was nodding at everything her father was saying, agreeing almost completely. She took the phone off speaker phone was she saw his mouth open to reply.

Maka held the phone up to her mouth, "Sorry Papa, kind of busy right now. Talk later. Night!" Before she could hang up, a shrill voice answered her.

"Night Maka! Or should I say…Makato? Right? Right?"

Maka hung up the phone quickly, turning slowly towards Black Star, who stared at her with a serious expression now. His face was almost full of concern, but of course, as Maka already knew, it wasn't going to last long. He stumbled over his words, "Ma…Ma-Maka…" A loud 'pfft' sound came out as he quickly covered his mouth, his cheeks full of air as he held it back. Maka covered her ears, preparing herself. He opened his mouth, a loud triumphant laughter coming out, along with a voice full of satisfaction "Makato? It's perfect!" He returned to his position on the floor, rolling in his own enjoyment, full of bliss.

Maka waited for him to stop, which took around ten minutes, as he kept on reminding himself why he was laughing in the first place, making him laugh even more. When he finally stopped, he looked towards Maka with a grin on his face, "You said it's at the beach right? The photo shoot?" Even though he was no longer acting silly, he still had a hint of silliness in his voice, an effect from his laughter just moments before.

Maka, giving up on him completely, answered him, pretending as if the laughter just before didn't happen, "Yes! We're going south!" She pressed her hands together, thinking about the crystal sands, clear blue water and satisfyingly cold ice cream, "I've never been to the beach before."

Black Star raised his arm into the air, making Maka look up at it, unsure of what he was going to do. The sudden movement of his arm around her shoulder made her jump at how quickly he pulled himself closer to her. She gaped at him, weirded out by the sudden closeness that seemed different from usual, his voice, however, drew her out of it, "The bright sun, the revealing swimsuits, the water gun fights, the slight movement of a girl's swimsuit as she runs on the sands, an experience that must be shared with yours truly!" Black star raised his other arm, as if waiting for a hi-five reply from Maka.

Maka, baffled at exactly what he was implying, just watched as his excitement went down slightly after seeing how her expression changed, he removed his arm, moving away from her awkwardly. Silence filled the air until Black Star's face changed into a familiar grin once more, "Going there for work won't leave any time for you to actually enjoy it. So I was saying-" Black Star stopped himself, something he rarely did.

_I've never seen him like this before. He usually just lets his thoughts come folding out of his mouth without thinking it through, why'd he stop?_

She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong but before she could, Black Star got up and walked over to the wall of her apartment, hitting his head violently on it. Maka's mouth fell open, not expecting him to do it. He turned around, a red mark forming on his forehead, "Bathroom!" He ran out of the room and into the bathroom, closing the door quickly behind himself.

Maka, not used to this kind of response from him, watched him run out. Resting her chin in her palm after she heard the door shut. She thought for a moment, trying to replay exactly what happened in her mind, trying to figure out what just occurred and why.

_The beach. He's right, going there for work won't leave any time for me to actually play around. _

Maka's face changed into a frown, now realizing that her ice cream dream would have to wait.

'_An experience that must be shared with yours truly'? _

Maka pondered about it for a moment, twirling the end of her loose pigtail in her free hand. She flinched, and covered her face, now realizing what just happened earlier.

_Black Star...just….Did he just ask me out?_

Maka felt her heart beating faster, and the sound of a door opening from the direction of the bathroom only made it thump harder within her.

_There's no way. _

Maka looked around the room as she heard his footsteps getting closer, as if something in the room could save her from her own embarrassment. When the steps stopped, she looked up towards him; a moment of silence as they stared at each other. Black Star lifted his foot; about to walk back towards her, she got up, her mind frantically searching for what to say to change the topic. "Black Star!" He didn't jump at the sound of his name, just looked at her with serious eyes, waiting for what came next, "G-Go wash your hands!" Maka pointed at them, shaking slightly.

Black Star looked down at his palms and frowned, slumping back over to the bathroom. Maka fell back to the ground after he left her range of sight. Maka held her chest, attempting to slow her heart rate; she breathed in then out and after, said something that she wished she could grab back out of existence after she said it.

"Black Star, want to go to the beach later?"

A rush of footsteps back towards the room made her jump, her heart sinking after she saw the look of happiness spreading across his face. He sat back down at the table, "If you insist, I may just grace you with my presence." He grinned at Maka, waiting for her answer.

Maka looked away from him, gripping her chest tighter.

_His odd innocence! It burns!_

_**oOo**_

Maka stared at the visitor to her apartment at one in the morning, her pigtails uneven at the side of her head, an effect after the fact that she was turning in her bed after the embarrassing moment just that afternoon. "What?" She knew her mouth was probably forming the word in the ugliest word possible, but it was early and she couldn't care less.

The visitor, wearing a black suit at one in the morning, was less the enthusiastic about her response. He straightened his tie before answering back, "I'd appreciate if you wouldn't make that face without thinking about the consequences."

Maka grunted at him and rubbed her tired eyes, "What are you doing here Kid?"

Death the Kid pulled a book from behind his back, showing the cover of it to Maka, "I would like to come in if you please." Maka steadied her eyes, trying to focus on what the cover was of, before she could figure it out however, Kid brushed her shoulder as he passed her, making his way into the main room of her apartment.

Maka tried to utter something to make him stop, but she was too tired. She looked out of the doorway, making sure that no one was around then shut it behind herself. She slumped into her bedroom slash living room to find Kid, standing over her still out futon. "Was I sleeping? The answer is yes." She folded it up and picked it up from the ground, opening her closet with her foot and placing it on the shelf, she turned back towards Kid, who was looking around the room curiously, "The table is in the closet," She shuffled it out of the closet and placed it in its usual position in the middle of the room, throwing down two floor pillows before receding to the ground, joining Kid at the table.

Kid looked around again, "I didn't notice before," He turned back towards Maka, "Your apartment is smaller than the standard size of the rest of them. Soul's is at least three times as big as this."

Maka rubbed her head, "I'm sure it is. After all, even though this is company lodging, I still have to pay for the electricity and water." Maka looked back at the book that Kid had brought over; it's back lying on the table. Her eyes widened when she recognized it, "My Album?" She looked up at Kid, who was sitting with his legs underneath him, and palms resting on his knees, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, "You bought one?"

"Of course." Kid rested his hand on the cover, "Have you seen it yet?" He looked up at her from his previous gaze at the album, his eyes unmoving from her frame.

Maka unconsciously backed away, as if trying to escape his gaze, "No but I-"

Kid interrupted her, standing up and sitting down next to her, "Good." She thought she caught a hint of a smile as he flipped the front cover and then to the first page. Yet as soon as he did, Maka shut her eyes, refusing to open them, and gaining the interest of Kid, who raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you doing?"

Maka peeked from the corner of her eye to find Kid, looking at her confused and at the same time, she felt she saw a look of concern on his face. She slowly opened both of her eyes, now she herself was confused as to why she did it in the first place. She thought for a moment.

_I'm not allowed to till he gets back. Wait. Why am I not allowed?_

Maka looked towards Kid, who was still looking at her even now, with the same worried look on his face, trying to read _her_ facial expressions.

_There's nothing wrong with looking at it. It's not like I promised him or anything. Soul wouldn't…would he mind? Why would he though? _

_Why do I feel like I want him to mind? _

_Argh!_

Maka rubbed the top of her head furiously with both of her hands, then looked back at Kid, "Well? Are we going to look or what?" She leaned over his closely leaned in shoulder, looking intently.

_**oOo**_ (A/N: That's right! Going to have to wait a little longer before we take a look into Maka's album!)

Maka readjusted her short haired wig, which was the same color as her original hair, making sure that it looked right in the mirror. "I can't believe this." She leaned over onto the make shift make-up table that was set up underneath a sun umbrella. She looked out far beyond the railing at the surfers and beach goers; smashing watermelon, sun tanning, building sandcastles, eating ice cream. A hand on Maka's shoulder brought her head out of the clouds. "Marie? What's up?" Maka stared at Marie wide-eyed.

Marie shook her head, displeased, "Get into character Maka!" She flicked Maka's forehead, "You're a boy, not a star struck teen girl anymore!"

Maka rubbed her forehead, "Alright Alright!" Maka sat down at the seat in front of the mirror, looking at her facial features that all seemed to scream 'girl' to her.

_A boy. A boy? Like Soul? Arrogant and Shady? Black Star? Self-boasting and Narcissistic? Kid? Uptight and…and…well now that I think about it. I don't know much about Kid. _

_Ah! Moving on! Should I just combine them together? What a devil of a boy that would be. _

Maka rubbed her hands together, intertwining them and then untangling them again. She continued to stare into the mirror, "Should I just combine then anyway? Into my own image?" She asked herself in the mirror.

_My image of a boy._

_Energetic, Charismatic, Stubborn, Hard to Read, Self-Obsessive, Adventurous and…Likeable. _

Maka's eyes became filled with excitement as she stood up, grinning to herself in the mirror.

"Maka!" Maka heard Marie yelled for her further up the stairs which bordered the beach. The residential area around them glistening underneath the hot sun, making the marble on the stairs look even more brilliant.

"Coming Miss Marie," Maka grinned widely as she ran up the stairs in big strides, making her way to Marie, patting Marie's back as she ran by, "Watch me." She stopped in front of the photographer, whose eyes widened as Maka stood in front of him. "Are we starting or what, Mister?" Maka grinned widely at the photographer; her eyes looked almost as if they were challenging to capture her.

The photographer laughed, "Let's go people! The model is ready!" He picked up his camera.

_**oOo**_

Maka sat on the edge of the stairs, her legs open sluggishly. She tugged on the straps on the yellow overalls she was made to wear; featuring a striped blue and white t-shirt underneath, multiple colorful buttons with sayings and patterns on her overalls, red and white shoes and a red lollipop. The camera man snapped energetically.

"Just act natural Maka."

Maka stood up, and raised her shoe to the camera, grinning and titling her head to make her bangs sway to the right slightly; making a unique perspective come out in the photo. She ran up a few steps and turned back towards the camera, showing a gun using her thumb and index finger. "Bang." She whispered as she tugged her 'hand gun' up.

"Take a break Maka."

Maka got down from the stairs and made her way over to the vans at the bottom. She looked around and spotted Marie being surrounded by male workers, she waved when Maka passed in an attempt to get away from the situation but failed miserably. Maka raised a hand at Marie and laughed as she passed by to the table set up, in which they were giving out everyone's lunches. "Oh Albarn! Good work out there son." The man, a bit older than most of the workers, passed her a boxed lunch, "If only my son had half of the charm that you did."

Maka laughed heartily, "Thanks Old Man, I'll keep that in mind." Maka dragged her feet over to a bench near the trees planted at the bottom of the stairs. She opened her boxed lunch, preparing to dig in when someone stepping in front of her, causing a shadow to spread over her. She looked up from the top of her eyes, "What's up?"

The person sat down next to her, eyeing her, "I heard you don't get out of character when you do a photo shoot but experiencing it first hand is a very different experience."

Maka flinched, startled and suddenly out of character, and looked at him, "S-Sorry about that, I was having too much fun."

"Fun?" The person squinted his eyes, not sure how to respond, "I suppose enjoying a job and doing it right at the same time is better." He nodded.

Maka raised an eyebrow at his conclusion, "If you say so, Ox." She shrugged, returning to her boxed lunch.

The person, Ox, popped open his own boxed lunch, but didn't touch it as he continued to eye Maka. She turned to him, a bit disturbed and self-conscious, she took a bit of her sandwich, "Ohat?" Ox flinched at her sudden sandwich-language usage.

"If I didn't know any better," Ox turned away from her, "You really would be a boy." Maka swallowed her sandwich bite, turning to him angrily, but her response was postponed. Ox wasn't finished speaking, "I really felt as if I was watching a male model. All of your past work makes me not even think you would ever be playing a male and the personality of you that has been released to the media is quite 'girl' like. Maybe it's because of that rather relaxed personality that something like this is easy for a _girl_ like you." He turned to her, watching as she ate more vigorously than before, "Never mind, everything about you is exactly like a boy." Maka hit him on the head with her now empty lunch box.

_**oOo**_

The photographer got from his crouching position, waving to the staff workers behind him, "That's it everyone, thank you, let's get some drinks around before we go home." The workers cheered behind him as they all sat down, exhausted from the heat.

Maka wiped her forehead, the sweat pouring off of her as the sun hit it's peek at four o'clock.

"It's good we got here early, or we would be stuck here even longer than this." Ox patted his head with his handkerchief. Maka looked up at him from her male-looking squatting position, raising her open palm to him, "You want to use it? Should've thought about that before you started hitting your co-manager on the head with a piece of plastic. Maka wiped her sweat underneath her wig with her forearm, before she realized that she still had it on. She grabbed the top of it and yanked it off, making her low pigtails come out. She leaned over and chewed on the green lollipop that the photographer gave her after the shoot. She moved the stick of it to the side of her mouth as she moved her mouth into a scowl from the heat. A flash in front of her face moved her attention away from the heat and back to a more immediate situation. The photographer was in front of her, taking a photo of her even after the shoot was supposedly over.

Maka reached forward, trying to cover herself from a second photo that he took, "What are you doing?"

The photographer stood up, satisfied, "Quite the gem I caught on camera today. If you ever feel like modeling again, don't hesitate to contact me through the agency Makato." The photographer walked off, victorious in his venture. Maka put her face into her hands.

She raised a palm up to Ox before he could open his 'oh so intellectual' mouth, "Don't even ask."

_**oOo**_

Maka waited for the elevator with her co-manager, who at this point in time, was just asking for another hit on the head.

"Though your modeling is above par, you attitude and personality leaves much to be desired. Reporting this to your manager proved difficult however, so I must take precautionary methods next time." Ox nodded to himself as he pushed his glasses back onto his face.

Maka felt herself lean away from him as she answered him indifferently, "Right." She yawned for the ride back home was much longer than she thought it would be.

"I collected valuable advice from working with you on this job." He turned toward Maka, only being a few inches taller than her made her feel like she was his senior, never imagining he was a year older than her, and he bowed, "I appreciate you cooperation."

Maka looked back at the elevator, still on floor six; she was going to find some kind of conversation with him. "So you're a co-manager for people right? I heard from the Marie that you circulate around the agency."

Ox's eyes gleamed, as if glad that the conversation took that sort of turn, "That's right! I aim to be a great Shibusen Manager, unlike most talents who live in this building, and for that purpose, I co-assist multiple managers often, learning the ropes, by the president's instruction of course."

Maka winced at the obvious boasting and proudness in his voice, "So you're going to be a manager? Who are you shooting for with that kind of goal?"

"Stein of course!"

Maka flinched at the name, remembering the cockiness that was 'Stein,' "I see."

"Thank the gods I didn't get Soul Eater or Black Star this time around. Their managers are quite amazing, however, I have heard bad things around," He turned back to Maka, "I guess you are pretty useful in that account."

_Marie, forgive me if I end up kicking his face in._

"You're welcome then." Maka's mood lifted when the elevator opened. She hopped inside and pressed for floor seven. Ox got on behind her, glancing at the button before looking back at Maka.

"Oh, same floor? Good, I can give you some more tips." Ox steadied his glasses as he reached into his bag for some kind of research material.

Maka's mood fell lower than before when he brought it up. She had forgotten that they live right next to each other.

_**oOo**_

Maka curled under the covers of her blanket, not expecting a loud bang to disrupt her evening, which she really should have by now. She lifted her restless body from her futon and looked toward the noise; sniffling from the sudden cold that engulfed her body as the covers fell from her. It sounded as if it was coming from next door. Not Ox but-

_Soul?_

Maka got up quickly, almost tripping over herself in the process and not bothering to even stop by the bathroom to check her appearance, as Kid had told her she should do every time she opens her door. She grabbed the handle of the door and breathed in and out, opening slowly. She peered out of the door to find Soul at his apartment door, a bag around his shoulder as he banged on the door. He made noises as he fumbled his hands into his pockets, looking for his keys. He banged on the door again, flinching Maka out of the stare mode she was in and making her move her head back into her doorway, trying for him not to notice her. "Blair!" He yelled at the door, "Hurry up! Man this is so uncool. Where'd my keys go?" He fumbled his pockets a bit more when the door opened quickly, revealing a familiar woman with bouncy purple hair, revealing clothes and a bouncing something else. She slumped onto Soul like a blanket and curled her hands into his messy white hair.

"I'm tired Soul, you are late today," She nuzzled onto him, as she collapsed into his arms.

"Right Right," He bent down and lifted her legs up, carrying her princess style, "Why's it smell like burnt fish in here?" He closed the door with his foot behind himself.

Maka, who saw the entire thing, leaned her head onto her doorway, not sure how to feel about what she just witnessed.

_I knew already so why am I so surprised. _

She went back into her apartment, closing the door behind herself, and with every step towards her futon, she got closer to the floor, reducing herself to a crawl as she fell into the safety net that was her bed. She rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling.

_Haven't seen him for five days since the date. Well not a date date but still. And of course since then, the first time I see him, he's hugging some big chested woman! _

Maka turned onto her side, mentally hitting herself.

_This sucks. _

_**oOo**_

Maka opened the door of her apartment, going off to work again today. She wore her low pigtails as usual though neater than usual, as if it was intended, all along with a white shirt, navy blue skinny jeans, and a black vest along with black flats. As soon as she took her first step out, the door to apartment 708 opened, revealing a certain snowy haired celebrity. She turned towards him, her eyes widening as he locked his door behind himself, smirking at her all the while.

_You've got to be kidding me._

She eyed him curiously, "Did you wait for me to step out or is this just a coincidence."

"The first choice." His eyes flared, filled with an emotion she didn't understand.

Maka locked her door as usual, then proceeded to pass him on her way to the elevator, not really wanting to confront the confliction that she was feeling right now. Soul continued to smirk at her as she walked by, as if used to her cold treatment. "Make sure you have noodles today."

She turned around, raising her eyebrow to him questioningly, "Why?"

"Because I'm coming over. Remember? The album." He fastened his pace to walk up to her, though she continued to walk away at an even faster pace. "Hey, what's wrong?" He leaned forward, grabbing her forearm before she could move away from him again.

She turned back towards him, faking a smile as she tried shrugged him off sheepishly but he held on, "I already looked at it about two days ago?" She questioned herself, trying to remember when she looked at it. His eyes widened, making her surprised, another facial expression on his face that she had never seen before. He didn't answer her, just tightened his grip on her forearm, she grimaced at the pain and looked up at him, his eyes quivering as they met hers, she shrugged again, this time succeeding in getting him off of her, "I saw it with Kid." He reached for her again, but this time she moved back, avoiding his hand. She looked up at him angrily, not expecting the look he was giving her, "I-I need to go to work."

She practically ran for the elevator, about to sing praise when it opened almost immediately. As she stepped in, she looked back up, to an unmoving Soul. She pressed for the Lobby floor and the door close button. She continued to stare at him, about to look away as the doors near their close when she caught his eyes with hers. His eyes a darker red than usual, looking at her, making her take steps back even though she was already far enough away. Her heart beat faster and her body grew hot, his gaze unshaken on her. He didn't break eye contact, even when the doors finally closed.

* * *

**_You have reached the end of this chapter, be sure to proceed to the review button, or not, no pressure._**

**_(Btw, I'm super unsure over the part where Black Star asks Maka out, so it'd really be great if you guys can give me some feedback on it, thanks guys)_**

**_Thank you for reading!_**


	15. Promises for Normal Days

**Alright! Hot Pockets, Fanta and cherries all kept me going to finish this! I had half of it done over my vacation, but then I just got stuck this morning and was completely at a lack of what to type(did nonsensical things for three hours). But I am proud to present this chapter I put all of my love into! So of course I am praying to the hot pocket gods that you love it as well.**

**Thank you all for reviewing the last chapter! **

**Read on to chapter 13 of Wonderful Nightmare**

* * *

_**Chapter 13: Promises for Normal Days**_

Maka flipped again through the same five pages she had been flipping through for the last ten some-odd minutes. Not listening in one bit to the meeting that was being held in the conference room she was currently sitting in. She didn't have a problem with the first four pages, not at all, what she had a problem with was the last page, in which the last pictures of her without her wig, still in character, had been submitted by the photographer. Though it was only a preview copy of the magazine, there was really no point in arguing it, as it not only contained the ever enthusiastic Marie but also the ever annoying Stein, and one more.

"I expected nothing less from my pride and joy. The twinkle of my eye, the-" If Stein hadn't stopped the certain red-headed father, than he would have gone on forever, no doubt about that.

"I must say, I am impressed with your level of competence." Stein nodded, approving of her work, which was the last thing she would have expected from him, "Though there is no need to over exaggerate." He turned to Spirit, who immediately went timid from his previous outburst.

Maka pushed the magazine forward, "Thank you."

Marie jumped from her seat, completely quiet before doing so, and pointed to the coffee maker in the room, "Coffee?"

Stein turned his head to the machine and waved his hand, "It would be great." Marie bounced at his motion, clearly excited for some odd reason. Maka watched the scene as Marie laid down the coffee that she happened to start brewing right after they entered the room in front of Stein. She smiled as he nodded to her before drinking some. Marie skipped back to her seat next to Maka, who was eyeing her suspiciously.

_All part of the plan huh? I knew it was weird when she started making it when she doesn't even like it._

Maka felt that the flirting in front of her was hitting a sore spot that she had since she parted from Soul two mornings before. Just the sight of it made her teeth cringe, despite herself not quite knowing why it was sore in the first place. She looked down at her knees and closed her eyes, not being able to focus lately, that and she was tired from not being able to sleep because she was focusing too much. "Albarn? We've discussed the details of your schedule for the next few days, though from the looks of your face, perhaps we should cancel you appointments?" Maka looked up to the smirking Stein, the look on his face just daring her to cancel them. She shook her head no and stood from her seat.

"I'll gladly take you on."

Marie stood up next to her, patting her shoulders in an attempt to make her sit down again, "He wasn't challenging you Maka. Say something Stein!" Marie looked over at Stein, who was not making things any better with the smug look on his face.

"You can take me on? How about saying that after you actually pass the high school exams?"

Maka flinched and clenched her fists, feeling the need to pummel him then and there, though it was no use, he was right. She sat back down in her seat, grunting as she scratched at her head incessantly.

_Exams at my Public High School, Brew High. It never even crossed my mind._

_**oOo**_

"I heard that a celebrity is actually in our class!"

"Oh! Which one? Is it Kim? Kid? Soul? Oh I don't know what I'd do if it was Soul." The girl's swooning could be heard throughout the girls' bathroom.

"No no no! I'm all for Death the Kid. Oh if he were to even say one word to me I would die of happiness."

"Soul is better!"

"Don't kid yourself!"

"I like Black Star!" The third girl in the bathroom's statement caused the other two to stop their bickering and start laughing at her.

"Black Star? Sure he's got a nice body but I don't think he's all there." The Soul fan girl turned back to the mirror, now disinterested in their conversation.

"Well we can all dream, but it doesn't matter anyway, they said it's supposed to be a girl." The Kid fan girl sighed, continuing to curl her eyelashes as she puckered her lips at the mirror.

"I hope it's not Tsubaki. Her chest annoys me."

"And it's not just her chest; she's got the personality of an angel. I could just see the guys swarming to our class just to get a look at her."

"No no no, they said that she's going to be taking the entire exam in a separate room, instead of coming here for a week like the rest of us. That's after reporting to our class first for the first portion of it, that's why everyone's so excited." The Black Star fan girl seemed sure of her words.

_Well she is right about that._

A certain brown haired girl bobbed her foot up and down inside of the stall, intending to leave but ended up staying after the three girls had came in and started their ranting.

"So she's smart huh? A celebrity aura and mind. Kind of annoying." The Soul fan girl looked towards the Black Star fan girl and pouted, "Why do you know so much gossip anyway? I didn't know you were like that." The three girls laughed as they continued to apply make up to their already perfectly fine looking faces, at least in Maka's opinion. Tired of waiting for them to leave, Maka opened the door of the bathroom stall, making all three girls jump as she did, as they assumed they were the only ones inside of it. She did a slight bow with her head and walked over to one of the empty sinks, washing her hands as the girls whispered amongst themselves, not quite as sure of themselves as they were before. After she finished, she grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser and smiled at the girls before walking out, trying to hold back a laugh as she heard them gasp as she left.

"Hey hey! That was that one girl who went up against Tsubaki!"

"No way! What was her name again?"

"Maka! Maka Albarn! The one who Soul and Tsubaki called cute!"

"No Fair!"

"She wasn't even that pretty you know?"

"You think so? I think she was pretty in a simple way. I bet she wasn't even wearing make-up and she was still glowing."

"Hey! We're trying to make ourselves feel better and you're ruining it!"

_**oOo**_

Maka poured some water into a glass then looked at the digital clock sitting above her television. Six in the morning. Maka had intended to sleep in, but it seemed her unconscious diligence caused her to do the exact opposite. The day before was hectic, she had finished her first period exam easily, though it caused an uproar, which she was trying to avoid. Constantly, in the councilor's room where she took the rest of them, she heard whispers outside the door, as if they were trying to listen to her every breath. Though it gave her an extra day off due to the fact that Marie insisted to Stein to postpone the three photo shoots she was supposed to have today. Still, she wasn't looking forward to do that two more times. She looked around her apartment, and couldn't believe that she had been there for almost two months in the next upcoming week. It felt like a much longer time than that. She sat down at her living room table and smiled. She had accomplished so much, in such little time, and it was going to get even more hectic as it went on. Every day she'll spend the mornings at work with Ox and Tsubaki and the nights hanging out the Black Star, Kid and…

_Soul._

She still hadn't decided what to do about their argument, if it could even be called that at all. She couldn't bear to even think about it, yet it was hard not to when he was literally a part of her daily life. He hadn't been by in around three days which she had tried to pin on work but it wasn't like him to avoid her when they had an argument, as proven when he showed up at her doorstep with new clothes and a date proposal. She jumped, suddenly remembering something. She ran over to her duffle bag, digging through it for her planner with her daily schedules listed inside. She found it quickly, and hurriedly, she opened it up to today. Then flipped back pages. Page after page until she reached what she was looking for. A set of pictures sat by the day marked 'Off' in large red letters. She breathed out when she saw them, the three set of pictures that she had yet to stick onto her cell phone back cover. She chuckled at the bushy mustache of a pair that was her and her _partner_.

_Can I even call him that anymore? _

_Of course it wasn't really a promise but I never thought that he would react like that. _

Maka massaged her forearm, remembering again.

_Should I apologize? _

She flinched, shaking her head no.

_No way am I apologizing first!_

She felt like a child when she thought it, but she closed the case in her mind, trying to forget as soon as possible that she even thought it up in the first place. Lucky for her, a knock came upon the door, and behind it was exactly the thing she would need to forget.

He eyed her up and down, "Where's the revealing swimsuit?" Maka blinked a few times at the person now at her door, his blue spiky hair just as energetic looking as always, the white tank top with a single yellow star in the upper right that he wore just accentuated his tanish skin and muscles even more. Maka watched as his expression changed into confusion, "No beach?" He looked away from her, "It's too early right?" He turned back to her, rubbing the back of his head as he pouted, "Should I have waited for you to come up to my apartment?" His weird consideration made her question if it really was Black Star in front of her, and not an imposter.

She eyed him a bit more.

_The beach. _

_Sounds Nice._

"I'll go get changed." Maka walked away from the open door, the footsteps of an excited teenager following behind hers. He almost followed her into the bathroom when she turned around and stopped him, "Wait here!" She slammed the door shut behind herself.

_Geez, this is going to be an interesting day. _

_**oOo**_

"Black Star, what are you making?" Maka squinted her eyes at the pile of sand in front of her friend, not sure whether she should step in and help or just watch.

Black Star turned to her from his squatting position, smiling widely, "A statue of the great Black Star of course." Maka furrowed her brow at him as she turned her attention back towards the sand blob that was supposedly now named 'The Great Black Star.' She shrugged, figuring that if she couldn't change him, she might as well just join him. She squatted down next to him, placing her hands into the sand and lifting it up to the pile. Smoothing it into one large spike on top of the rounded blob head. "What is that?"

Maka snapped her head towards him, not believing that he even asked her, she looked back towards the sand blob and laughed, "It's your cap of awesome." Black Star jumped from his position on the sand and ran behind the sand statue blob of himself. He pumped up his arms and started to do various poses in which he flexed he muscles. Maka fell backward, her behind landing onto the sand as she laughed; holding her stomach in pain from the roar of laughter. Black Star continued to pose when a large wave smashed into his backside as it made its rush onto the land. Maka got her legs, hands and butt soaked but her upper body was saved from the disaster. However, the same could not be said for the sand blob, because now it was nothing more than a smaller blob of its former self, a small speed bump in the sand with a slightly pointed top. Maka looked up at Black Star, whose body was drenched to the bone, his white tank top was nothing but a wet rag on his skin now, and his hair was pushed down, flat, straight and not at all spiky. She stared at him as he stared back, as if they were both in a state of disbelief, but Maka broke the silence.

She started to laugh again, this time at the sight of the wet Black Star, who looked utterly at a loss for words. She could feel her stomach about to burst from the pure happiness she had just gained from his misfortune. She could only peer out of the corner of her eye at him, who was now looking down at his shirt; holding it by the rim of the bottom. She looked forward, though didn't quite expect what happened next.

He put both of his hands onto the bottom of his shirt, lifting it up and over his head as he took it off, slinging it over his shoulder after he had finished getting the water out of it. Maka wanted to look away, but she couldn't, and there was no option of looking at the sun, for his back was blocking it from her view.

_Looking away completely would be awkward. _

_Though this is awkward enough._

Maka stared at the way his black swimming trunks hung just slightly lower than his waist line, making looking away from him after staring at it for so long even more awkward. She flinched when he started walking forward, towards her. He eyes looked away unconsciously as he squatted down right in front of her, his now straightened out hair dripping water onto her.

"Hey Maka."

"W-What?"

He leaned forward, almost as if to whisper something to her, he pointed towards the ocean with his thumb, "Let's do that!" He stood up quickly, this time reiterating his point towards the ocean. Maka followed his point with her eyes, which led to a group of men, all standing on what seemed to be boards.

"Surf? You know how to surf?" Before he answered her questioned, he leaned down and grabbed her hand, his strength propelling her forward quickly as he dragged her towards the water, "Wait! Do you even have your own board?" They plunged into the ocean, all time went slow for a moment as Maka felt his hand leave hers, and she came to the surface, looking around frantically through her sideways bangs. A splash of cold water from behind, onto her back, made her jump. She turned to find Black Star, splashing water into her direction, and she returned the favor with more amplitude. She laughed as they continued with the water antics. She looked over at him after taking a large splash, a long strand of her hair disheveled in front of her face, "You don't know how to surf do you?"

He laughed heartily, "I figured that the awesome cap would give me special powers and adapt learning skills," He put his thumb to his chin, "It seems I misjudged."Maka chuckled at the words he was using that she had never heard from him before. He looked out again towards the surfers, this time with determination burning in his eyes, "Looks like we'll just have to try again." He moved his legs through the water towards the group, Maka grabbed onto his arm in an attempt to make him stop.

"Hey hey hey! I know what you're thinking and you can't do that!"

"Everyone should be willing to submit for the marvelous Black Star!"

"Since when did 'great' turn into 'marvelous!'"

_**oOo**_

Maka swung her feet back and forth as she waited on the railing of the beach sand. She looked out at the beach, which was nearing its late afternoon sunset, then she turned to her white t-shirt beside her, folded on top of Black Star's tank top after she had got it wet after going 'surf boarding' with him; which without the actual board was basically just a series of dives into the waves. She looked down at her shades of green argyle one piece that she had decided to wear with a pair of light blue shorts. She knew that there was no way she wouldn't get wet, so she prepared herself ahead of time, not wanting to expose the amount of skin that she had seen from Black Star.

She looked around the beach, most kids and parents which were there just this morning had left and now all that were left were couples and the ever so often old person walking their dog. Maka caught a glimpse of a Black Star, who had gone out to get ice cream, now returning with one blue popsicle and another larger rainbow popsicle. "Yo!" She waved her arm in the air, making him run over to her, his hair still wet from the earlier dip, making him almost unrecognizable.

He jumped up and sat to the right of her, handing her the blue popsicle, and in turn keeping the large, 'mightier' one for himself. Maka chuckled a bit when she noticed, but decided not to bring it up. They ate in silence until the loud mouth himself spoke up, "No need to ask you had a great time."

Maka laughed, "Yeah, it was fun." She leaned forward, placing her empty hand onto her knee, as she looked towards him. He stared off at the ocean.

"You mean is fun." Maka pursed her lips, not sure why she felt like she had insulted him. She decided she should say something else to somehow make up for it.

"_You_ mean always fun." Black Star grinned, his black eyes reflecting the pools of the ocean as he watched the sun. Maka looked toward the ocean, taking a bite of her ice cream as she did so, "Thanks Black Star."

Black Star turned towards her, swinging his leg over the railing to sit on it like a saddle, "I'm going to ask you something."

Maka laughed at the way he didn't ask to ask something, but was only warning her before he asked, "What's up?"

He frowned, as if not sure how to put the words that were going to come out of his mouth, he looked down at his ice cream then swung his leg back over the railing to get into his previous position, "Forget it."

Maka raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because the great Black Star says to."

Maka frowned, not satisfied with his reason, though she knew that if it was something that even Black Star wouldn't say without thinking about it, it was probably not good to look into it too much. She continued to eat her ice cream when Black Star stood up, "Last one to the train station buys the drinks!" He stood up, stretching out his legs. Maka thought for a second as she watched him, thinking that it was completely unfair for him to even suggest it. Though the thought of him cleaning out her pay check didn't sound good either, besides, she was up for a challenge. She got off the railing, grabbing onto their wet t-shirts and finishing up her ice cream before lining up next to him. He started the count down after seeing the smile on her face, signaling she agreed to the terms. He hit zero and they sprinted for the last bullet train back to Death City.

_**oOo**_

Maka turned back on her cell phone, which she had shut off after discovering that on and wet was worse than off and wet. A text message rang in immediately.

_From Tsubaki?_

She read it to herself after glancing at Black Star, who was standing up, hanging onto the hand grip right above where she was sitting.

'_Went to the apartments to find you weren't there. Should've called yesterday right? You must be out with someone right now. Wherever you are though Maka, knowing you, you're having a great time. Call me when you get this, I have something to tell you.'_

Maka chuckled at the way Tsubaki refused to type 'some1' instead of 'someone,' which made the text separate into almost three parts. She looked back up at Black Star, wondering how to reply to Tsubaki. Black Star looked down at her and grinned, due to him winning the race by a long shot, he was in a better than normal mood. Maka texted back to Tsubaki.

_Just out with a friend, call you when I get home._

_**oOo**_

Maka rubbed her wet hair with her bath towel, already changed into her pajamas; consisting of a baggy white shirt, striped horizontal red and white bra with matching underwear and loose gray shorts. She walked by the kitchen counter, picking up her phone to make a call to a good friend. The dial tone rang a few times before she picked up, "Hey, Tsubaki. Just got settled in at home, what's up?"

She could hear Tsubaki drop her phone, most likely from anxiety over something, but Maka couldn't tell much more since she was there to actually witness it. "M-Maka! I'm so glad you called! I have something important to say!" Maka was startled at the fact that Tsubaki was so loud on the other side of the phone, as if she had something important to say but it just wasn't coming out, "Oh wait. First," Maka heard Tsubaki's breath slow, "How was your Sunday? Did you have fun with your friend?"

Maka stifled a laugh, "No need to be polite, just go ahead and say what you need to say." She heard Tsubaki breathe out in relief that she didn't need to follow the normal formalities this one time.

"Well I had to work this morning, but I got the rest of the day off so that's why I went to visit you, oh but anyway, I was walking to the exit, out to the parking lot when I spotted Soul." Maka felt her heart skip a beat when she said his name. "I called out to him and he just nodded back so I thought he must have just been too busy and tired you know, but then I asked him where he was going and he said, 'Going out for some lunch,' so I, already planning on visiting you, sorry I didn't call ahead of time by the way."

"It's okay Tsubaki, I wouldn't have called either, just continue."

Tsubaki took another deep breath, "And then he just stared at me, as if what I said was completely insane. I felt like maybe I didn't say what I thought it did because of the way he stared you know? Well that's when it got weird, he looked away and said, 'No thanks,' and I felt chills! Chills Maka! I remember you said that he lives next to you right? Well I just wanted to advise you not to meet him anytime soon. He's got an odd aura about him right now and I think he himself needs some time to think." Maka nodded after a moment of not hearing Tsubaki say anything more.

"Alright." A knock on Maka's door made her attention shift to it rather than Tsubaki, and even though she would've listened to her friend's words, it seemed as though fate was out to get her. When she opened the door, cell phone still in her hand, up against her ear, her eyes widened.

"I'm serious Maka! No one should be around him right now!" Maka felt her jaw threaten to drop. She lowered the phone from her eardrum.

"Talk Later Tsubaki." Before Tsubaki could protest, Maka hung up the phone, and lowered her arm to her side. "Hey Soul." She saw his eyes burn with an emotion she didn't understand after she uttered his name. He had his hands in his pockets and he didn't seem to be in the best of moods. She moved to the side, leaving room for him to come in, which he took as an approval to enter, thus did. As he walked past her, his shoulders brushed past her own, making her gasp as her body felt hot suddenly. He continued on into the living room, as if he did it on purpose, he watched her and waited for her reaction. It was late at night, but she had a feeling that he would still want some noodles. She walked into the kitchen, grabbing a pack off the top of the fridge, and then proceeded to open them.

"Maka." She flinched at the sound of her name. Of course the first thing that comes out of his mouth is her name, though it hit her harder than she expected. She turned around and found him standing just two steps in front of her. He took another step closer, "Exactly what do I need to do so that you'll promise something?" He placed his hand onto the counter, his body dangerously close to her own, she felt his breath on her face, "Do I need to drive you into a corner for you to do it?" Maka couldn't stop looking at his mouth as he had formed the words that made her become nervous as hell. She shook her head no frantically, trying to make him back up. Her slightly wet hair tingled the back of her neck as he didn't. She looked up at him, noticing that he had a scowl on his face.

"Soul?" She reached her arm up to his arm, tugging at his jacket. He made a noise before backing away from her, sliding his hands off of kitchen counter. He slid backwards, moving a few steps away from her. "Hey Soul."At the second call of his name, he made his way to the door. Maka yelped as she saw his motion, "Hey! Didn't you come here to tell me something else? It's not cool to just leave like this."

Soul's hand stopped at the doorknob, "Don't worry. Tomorrow, I'll be back to normal. I just need some time."

"What if I don't want you to go back to normal so quickly? I think I like the vulnerable Soul better than the cocky one." Maka cooed at him, finding herself saying things even if she didn't mean them, anything to make him look at her.

And he did. He turned back to Maka, his face full of something that Maka couldn't explain in words. He leaned against the walls of her apartment and smirked at her, not his usual conniving smirk, but something different, his voice turned into a low mumble, "Don't say that." Maka felt her brain racking for something else to say, anything in the least, it didn't matter what.

"Soul." She found herself calling out his name, not sure why it made her feel like she would break.

He lifted his back off of the wall and let out a laugh. He looked to Maka as if it was all he could do to make himself smile, "Next time. I'll see it with you soon, alright?" Maka's heart lifted from the sinking pit it had fallen into, she smiled widely, pointing back at the kitchen.

"Only if you stay for noodles."

* * *

**Noodles, how delicious. If I said the first ten people to review get to eat **_**steamy hot noodles **_**with Soul, I wonder how many reviews I would get only for that. I cannot promise anything, but that's what **_**imagination**_** is for correct?**

**Thank you for reading this chapter of Wonderful Nightmare!**

**Review and tell me what you think. **

**(Sorry for the randomness, I have discovered that hot pockets make me **_**crazy**_**!)**


	16. Just Be Here

**It's done! And since it's been such a long time, most of you are going to fast forward through this part anyway. So to make it even easier for you, **

**Go on and Enjoy Chapter 14 of Wonderful Nightmare.**

* * *

_**Chapter 14: Just Be Here**_

The silence of the room while he flipped the pages was nauseating. It was uncomfortable just sitting there, let alone even uttering a sound. She fidgeted a bit, not sure how to react to his behavior. He had definitely taken the meaning of 'seeing it soon' quite literally and she thought she would be ready when that 'soon' came, though now, now was much _too soon_.

"Maka?"

She flinched, snapping her head up from its hanging position in order to look up at him. He stared at her calmly, normally, as if she was the weird one. Maka huffed in anger, "You know, it's pretty late right now Soul."

Soul looked away, unconcerned with her tone, and continued to flip back and forth between pages, not making a single facial expression that could have told her what he was thinking. The simple fact that he was still on the third page after ten minutes made her bite her lip, she wasn't going to get out of this so easily. His eyes were so intent on the page; she thought he would burn a hole through it. She watched as his lips parted slowly as he thought about the question to ask, "This was taken in a flower field? The north than?"

Maka leaned over the table, now getting a good look at the picture, which entailed herself in braids, a white dress, lying in a bed of yellow flowers. She let out a breath as she remembered the experience. It had been at least three or four days since she last saw B.J. but his 'Miss Maka' rang in her mind clear as day. "Yeah, up near the snowy mountains." Maka put her finger onto the picture and traced a circle around herself, "It was freezing." She shivered as she remembered it, her finger still on the page. She flinched when she felt fingers wrap around hers slowly; a tingle going up her spine as Soul intertwined each of them with his own.

He lifted her hand off of the page, releasing it before grunting, "I can't see the page if you keep your finger on it." Maka, completely stunned by his action, decided to cut the conversation right then and there. She fidgeted, not sure how to react as he flipped the next page, a smile creeping up his face as he looked at the next picture; a picture of the river scene. She fidgeted even more now; he was smiling way too much to just be enjoying the view of the scenery. She looked out of the corner of her eye to see his eyes staring at her bare legs that kicked up the water. She moved her hands over the picture quickly, yanking it out of his sight. He looked up at her, his brow furrowed, "I was looking at that." He reached over to Maka in order to grab it out of her hands but grabbed nothing but air when she leaned back to get out of his arm's length. He grunted, scooting over as he reached again, this time succeeding in knocking it out of her arms. Maka shuffled for it but it was too late, he opened it again, flipping to a random page near the end of the thirty page album.

Maka huffed in anger that her attempt failed even though she wasn't trying that hard in the first place. The page Soul had randomly opened her album to was of herself and the fountain in Death City Park. She took a deep breath, figuring that there was no way he was going to give up at this point, seeing as how he had place his other arm over the edge of the table, just in case she tried to get at it again. She laid down, her back on the wooden floor of her apartment as she stared up at the ceiling, not really wanting to see his reactions as he continued to look at her somewhat 'exposed' inner self. She closed her eyes, tired after not being able to sleep after her shower but instead being thrown around by the ever mellow Soul. She grunted, "I don't want to hear anything about how it doesn't look like me." She heard nothing but silence floating in the room. Curious, she peeked through one eye in order to get a look at what he was doing.

"Maka."

She sat forward quickly, hitting her head after hearing the sound of her name. She rubbed the back of her head indulgently, her hair, fluffy from being washed, became a mess as she did. She held herself up from the floor with one hand, "What?" She answered almost repugnantly and she knew that if Kid was there, she would get a long lecture about keeping up appearances.

Soul looked away from the picture and over to her, not at all surprised at her tone, he looked back down at the picture. "It looks like Maka." Maka, confused, shifted her eyes away from Soul and to the picture he was looking at. Her heart stung a bit as she remembered the feelings she had in the picture. Her hand clutching her chest as her eyes squinted, mouth unsure as she seemed to be saying something in it. She bit her lip, not sure what to say to his statement now, she looked away from the picture for fear of becoming one with the feelings it displayed. She noticed Soul continuing to stare at the picture; his mouth formed a dark line as he showed no emotion whatsoever. The familiarity he seemed to have with what the picture showed made Maka feel uncomfortable. As if there was something he was hiding from her, something he wanted to say, but now was too soon. He parted his lips, "Just like you," he didn't turn away from the paper as he spoke, "I'd know." He turned his head, and his hair fumbled over itself as it made its way across his forehead due to his head being titled.

Her heart leapt inside of her chest as his eyes stayed on her frame. She didn't know what he wanted her to say. Saying anything at this moment would seem out of place and unsuitable. She stayed quiet, praying that he didn't hear her heartbeat. She wanted to get up and run away as she felt his deep red eyes engulf her. Her face reflected onto them.

Maka shifted her fingers across the table, as far away from his as she could because being near him with even a finger, as proven earlier, seemed to be hinted with a sign of danger. A knock on the door right at this very moment seemed like a call of praise to Maka. She got up to her feet quickly, almost stumbling over to the door in her hurry. When she turned the handle, she let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "Black Star."

A loud noise came from the inside of her apartment, but she ignored it, and continued to focus all of her attention to the person outside of her door at this very moment. The tanned, blue haired young man, whose hair had now returned to its spikey epitome, put one of his hands onto the frame of the door, leaning onto it. "Hey Maka, I found this in my swim trunks pocket, didn't even realize you left it there did ya? So the great me decided to return it to you." Maka held out her hands to find a cellphone strap of an orange flame looking trinket, her soul strap which had the words 'Maka' sewed into the fabric of the strap. She remembered putting it in his side zipper pocket before they jumped into the water for the second time, since it fell off the first time they spontaneously did and she didn't want it to happen again. She smiled at the sight of it, a trinket that her mother sent to her two years ago, no letter attached, just the one strap. It was the only thing she had left of her mother and she took it everywhere with her. It scared her that she forgot it for even a second while she was with Soul.

"Thank you." She looked up to Black Star, who wasn't smiling his ever cocky smile at her as he had seconds before, but instead, was looking on into her apartment, looking at something. She turned around, seeing Soul leaning against the wall of the entrance to the main living/sleeping area of the place, looking rather oddly over at Black Star, his supposed best friend. She turned back to Black Star, who didn't reciprocate the action. "Do you want to come in?" Her voice flinched him out of it; he looked down at her for a moment, registering her words before answering.

"Nah," he rubbed the back of his head, "the party up in my apartment is getting pretty wild and without me, it would fall apart." He laughed triumphantly at his partying skills. He looked behind her, back to Soul, "You coming Soul?" She heard a laugh from behind her before a shuffling of feet closed in on her. A hand reached out in front of her, onto the framing of the door opposite what Black Star was leaning on, making her heart jump. The motion seemed almost on purpose.

"Can't make the party insane without me?" Maka looked up at Soul, whose previous face had changed back to normal, as if the whole night over at her apartment didn't happen, he stepped out, pushing his way past her. He grinned at Black Star as he held out his fist. Black Star fist bumped him and smirked. Walking on in front of him as he followed behind. Maka, dumbfounded, watched as the two of them continued down the hall. She flinched, noticing she was staring at them only once Black Star turned around and waved.

"Wish Soul good luck, since the great me already has enough of it!" Soul turned slightly, only enough for her to see a sliver of his face. She nodded and waved back, not sure what she was wishing luck for in the first place. She saw his lips form into a smirk as he turned, but Maka, having no clue what it meant, decided that perhaps the best time to go to sleep would be now, because if she knew anything, it was that when Black Star and Soul did get to apartment 808, the incessant banging on the ceiling wasn't going to stop.

_**oOo**_

She rubbed the back of the black haired girls back, calming her down as she slumped over. "Really Tsubaki, what did you do last night?"

The black haired girl looked up, her face a bit less lively looking than usual, but still overall, blindingly beautiful. "It's not that big a deal Maka. I just went to Black Star's party and things got a little out of hand." She paused after she thought about what she had said, "I didn't drink anything at all! I swear! I just got drunk off the atmosphere is all?" Tsubaki waved her hands in front of her face, pleading the fifth.

Maka thought about what her close friend just said, making sure to aid her as they made their way to lunch for the day after working together in a photo-shoot. She snapped her fingers and quickly looked back at Tsubaki, who seemed as if she would tumble over at any moment. "You know Black Star Tsubaki?"

The look Tsubaki shot Maka gave her chills. It was a look that seemed to say, 'who do you think I am?' However, after a moment, it faded away and her usual smile played across her face, "Everyone knows Black Star Maka."

Maka, still looking to press the issue, continued questioning her, "No I meant, you know him personally?"

Tsubaki furrowed her brow in an attempt to avoid feeling insulted, she steadied herself, flipped her hair back with her hand and grinned, "If Black Star is in the limits of the people you know than you really have just hit the starting point of your modeling career. Probably not even that," she paused, thinking of how to phrase her words, "more like climbing up the cliff that happens to be twenty miles away from the starting point." Maka frowned at exactly how right Tsubaki was. She was only beginning and the road was long in front of her. She felt excitement rise in her gut, a feeling she had only felt when in front of the camera was resurfacing. The feeling allowed her to forget, for the moment, Soul, who had been at the forefront of her mind for the longest time. Tsubaki got a phone call in the midst of Maka's inner thoughts, with which she answered readily.

"Hello?" Tsubaki stood silently with Maka next to her, holding their lunch boxes, in the lobby of the studio building. "Really? Which room number were you in?" A couple seconds more of silence when Tsubaki turned to Maka and eyed her up and down, "Be right there." Tsubaki turned back to Maka and smiled, clapping her hands together happily, "Looks like your Black Star limit is going to be broken today." Maka scratched her head, confused, and not at all expecting that the person she would meet next would have such a great impact on her day.

_**oOo**_

Maka followed Tsubaki into the lobby/café of the studio building, not sure who exactly they were looking for. She turned to Tsubaki, whose eyes were scanning the large space back and forth. Her head jerked to the left, apparently spotting who they were looking for. They made their way over to a woman with long sandy blonde hair going down her back, a pair of brown shaded sunglasses on, along with a white shirt that hung off her shoulders a bit with a dark brown design on it and a pair of tan cargo pants. She smiled at Tsubaki as they arrived at the table. "It's been awhile Tsubaki." The woman looked up at Maka, her smile fading as she continued to stare in silence. For lack of the woman's full face, Maka wasn't sure how she was being looked at, though she felt her stress release when the woman laughed, "Friend of yours?" Her question was obviously directed at Tsubaki, who was sitting down across from her at the rounded table at the moment.

Tsubaki looked up at Maka, who hadn't taken the initiative to sit as she had done, "Yes, this is Maka." She gave Maka a wink and motioned her to sit down next to herself. Maka nodded back and sat down next to Tsubaki, not sure what to expect from the woman who looked her over from across the table. "Maka, this is Elizabeth Thompson."

The sandy blonde took off her glasses with a flick of her wrist, outstretching her free hand toward Maka, "You can call me Liz." Maka shook her hand reluctantly, still not understanding the situation. "You must be _that_ Maka then." When the woman grinned at Maka, it looked almost as if she was asking to be smiled back at, and so Maka did.

"What Maka?" Maka leaned forward a bit, now interested in this 'Liz' that sat across from her.

"The one in the boy's clothes."

Maka almost fell out of her chair from shock. Sure, it was her most recent of jobs and it certainly was 'unique' to say the least, but the fact that from now on she would be seen as the cross dresser model was not something she was looking forward to. She laughed a bit, trying to recover from her moment, "Yeah. That's me."

Liz's eyes widened, as if she had just realized what she said, "Not to insult you or anything like that! I just read the magazine recently with my sister and we were both about to pin it up on our wall until we reached the last page." She chuckled, "You make a good boy Makato. Not a lot of people can pull that off."

Despite what it sounded like, Maka could tell that Liz meant no ill will with her words. Instead, she gave off a very warm and comfortable sort of manner, which made Maka lean her elbows onto the table top, getting more comfortable as well. If this was what Tsubaki meant by breaking her limits, then she was okay with it. "Glad to entertain."

Liz laughed widely, something that Maka wouldn't have expected just moments ago but now, it seemed natural, "On the subject of entertaining," she turned to Maka, pointed her manicured index finger at her, "How come you weren't at Black Star's party with Tsubaki?" Tsubaki flinched next to Maka, out of surprise of her name suddenly coming up in the conversation.

Tsubaki thought to herself, trying to recall the events of the past night, before answering, "She hung up on me before I could say anything about it if I remember right." Tsubaki turned to Maka, who whimpered and looked away, ashamed that she hung up on her closest friend. Tsubaki snapped her fingers, finally remembering, "Oh yes! That's right!" She turned to Liz and smiled, "Black Star went to fetch Maka but I guess he changed his mind or something."

Liz clapped her hands together, as if all of the pieces were falling into place, "That's right! He left a little after it started, I was wondering what he was doing. And then he returned with Soul. The gruesome twosome in the flesh. You can't say the party didn't get started after that." Liz hummed to herself as she thought about her fond memories of the night, "But then again," she looked down, disappointed, "Kid told me he was busy and couldn't make it. If he did come, then it would've been much better." Liz sighed, and Maka figured she was most likely very close to Kid, who she hadn't even seen or heard from for a while. It was weird, but Maka missed him showing up at her door every morning to correct her appearance. Liz suddenly started to bounce in her seat, "You should've been there Maka, Kilik went headfirst into the fridge, yelling something about 'Narnia here I come!'" Liz started to crack up, holding onto her stomach as she banged on the table. Maka, who had no clue who this 'Kilik' person was, laughed at the situation, figuring she didn't have to know him to get the joke. Tsubaki giggled nonstop before Liz had even gotten to the punch line, meaning that they must have been together and near 'Kilik' when it happened. She almost regretted not going.

Tsubaki continued to reminisce with Liz for a few more minutes, every so often, Maka would laugh at the stories of Black Star's escapades. To Maka, spending lunch this way wasn't bad at all. Liz, who seemed older and more mature than Maka to begin with, was actually the same age as Tsubaki, Black Star, Kid and Soul, 17. Seeing her laugh made Maka believe it even more. Maka smiled as she watched the two of them converse together, not a single moment of silence in which nothing was to be said was exchanged. Then, Tsubaki got the topic of Soul.

Tsubaki snapped her head to Maka, "You didn't see Soul like I told you to right?" Maka sat shocked, not moving her lips to make a sound. Tsubaki huffed, "When Black Star went to get you, he returned with Soul instead." She thought for a moment, "You were with Soul weren't you!" Tsubaki didn't have to ask, she already knew.

Maka scratched the back of her hair, "He didn't seem as steaming as you told me he was." Maka lifted her hand, holding up a finger every time she listed something, "We talked, ate noodles, watched TV, looked at my album. He was the usual Soul when Black Star came to get him as well."

Liz listened to the two of them, stirring the straw in her orange soda, "The usual Soul? Sure he seemed like the usual Soul, but Black Star and him were on separate sides of the room the entire time. That's not normal. He had this, 'Don't mess with me' aura around him, even more deadly looking than usual. So," She pursed her light pink lips, "Maka's the one who made him that way huh?"

Maka bit her lip, not sure how to answer to her statement.

_Soul seemed fine when he left, like nothing happened. I thought everything was okay between us, back to normal. He's still angry about the Kid thing? _

Maka put her finger to her lips, "But, we made up."

Liz pointed her finger at Maka again, "_You_ _thought_ you guys made up."

Tsubaki put her hand onto Maka's shoulder, "I told you not to talk to him. Just give him so time and he'll go back to normal. It's happened before." The words 'happened before' made Maka's head go into a tizzy, but now was not the time to be worried about the past because at the present moment, _Soul _was still _not_ Soul. Maka breathed out, her heart tired of dealing with his mood swings. He just needed to go back to the teasing, mocking Soul who only cares about coolness and everything would be fine. It seemed that dealing with the problem that grew between herself and him would be harder than she first thought.

A hand reached over Maka's boxed lunch, plucking up one of the omelets. She looked toward the retracting hand and found Liz taking a bit out of the egg, "Penalty to the selfish." Maka sat dumbfounded, mouth ajar, she swiped her boxed lunch out of the way when one of Liz's hands came back for the second time. Liz laughed, making light of a serious situation which in turn caused Maka to make light of it as well. Laughing along with her and Tsubaki.

_**oOo**_

Maka swayed back and forth, not sure of herself as she stood in front of the apartment door. If there were still problems, she would just have to correct them, easy and simple as that. She knocked on the door, three good bangs. Complete silence. She swung her left leg back and forth, conscious of the jeans and white Soul fan girl shirt she was wearing. She lifted her shirt from the bottom rim, wondering if she should have worn something different. The black sketch outline on her shirt of Soul holding onto a microphone was definitely her way of sucking up to him. She leaned her head onto the door. He was home, he definitely was, the guard told her he had come home. She ruffled her hair onto the door, pursing her lips, wondering if she should call out to him. She lifted her head from the door, "It's Maka." A rush of footsteps from inside the apartment came running near the door. Maka could sense another person on the other side of the door now. She huffed, "I know you're there." A loud sigh from the other side of the door signaled its opening. There stood the familiar tall, white haired, red eyed guy in a white t-shirt and baggy gray pants. It seemed as though he was sleeping, since his hair was disheveled, and he didn't want to wake up for just anybody. Then again, this is just what Maka wanted to think had happened. "I told you not to sigh, one moment of happiness has just been taken away from you." She smiled, hoping it would clear the way for conversation.

He grunted at her, his eyes making a glance at her shirt before looking away, "So uncool." Maka chuckled as she stood, chest forward, in order to make the brilliance of his own image make him less unsociable. He looked around outside of his apartment, as if to see if she was alone, "This sure is a turn of events. You being the first to initiate this that is," he lifted his pants a bit, which were starting to sag around his waist, "Or. Did Black Star put you up to this?" Maka shifted to the left to see inside of his apartment. Kid wasn't exaggerating when he said that Soul's apartment was three times as big as hers. She jumped when an arm stretched out in front of her view, a hand now holding onto the frame of the door. "So, what is it?"

Maka shook her head, trying not to look at his eyes that seemed stuck on her, "Aren't you tired? You should go back to bed while I cook you something to eat." The idea of Maka cooking for him was enticing, but he dismissed it.

"Already ate." He began to close his door when Maka reached out to stop it, making him almost smash her fingers, "Hey!" He opened the door again, startled, his face twisting into something Maka couldn't describe once more. That weird face of his was starting to make her angry. It was something she couldn't recognize. A feeling she hadn't been able to grasp.

"We are partners. I can't let you see all of my secrets without knowing a few of yours." She huffed at him, blowing air up to her bangs in an attempt to subside her anger. "Why are you acting this way? You can't really expect me to pretend nothing is wrong." Soul sneered, his eyes serious as he listened to her. "What can I do for you Soul?" He laughed, catching Maka off guard.

"Wanting to know so much that you'd get your fingers smashed in for it? You're just too unbelievable." He stepped out of his doorway, walking in front of Maka as he closed it behind himself. "What do you need to do? Just stand there." Maka backed up, not knowing what to do. Everything he did took her by surprise. Each and every thing he said would take her off guard, and this was no different. Soul means what he says. If he said he wanted her to stand there, then that's what he meant. She stood by the railing, looking up at him. She felt her eyes struggled to keep on his own. He stood, emotionless as he watched her. Her legs wanted to run but Maka knew she had to stand her ground. The thumping from her chest grew louder and she felt like it would burst. The idol of girls all over Death City, even beyond the reaches of that, had asked her to just stand there. _Soul _had asked her to just stand there. She wasn't sure what to think at this moment, her mind drawing a blank. She saw a smirk begin to form on his face as he took a deep breath in, "I'm childish."

Maka furrowed her eyebrows, "What?"

Soul turned around, grabbing the doorknob of the door to his apartment. "So uncool." He laughed as he entered, shutting the door behind himself while not sparring Maka a single glance.

Maka stomped the ground in anger.

_There he goes again, making me feel stupid._

_Stupid for just standing here. _

_Stupid for knocking on the door._

She looked down at her shirt.

_Stupid for wearing this __**stupid**__ shirt!_

_**oOo**_

Maka ate her lunch emotionlessly as she watched the television. Death City's celebrity watch. There, on the screen was the famous Mr. Cool, smiling to his fans in all his glory on the variety show, back to normal.

_Even better than normal._

She crunched on her food, taking out her anger on her red apple. The fans in the crowd all screamed his name at the top of their lungs, not sparing any oxygen for breathing since either they passed out from lack of oxygen or pure happiness. She felt her apple get bruises under her fingers as she watched him wave before the show went to commercial. She breathed out, thankful that it was over for now, that and that she was almost done with her lunch break anyway. She silently ate as her co-workers for her current job ate around her.

"It's Liz!"

Maka's head snapped toward the voice, which belonged to a staff worker who was looking up at the television with great intent. Those around Maka went silent, as if they all felt the need to tune in as well. Maka turned to the television, a commercial for a new drama played.

"This Saturday, watch as a young woman returns to her island home that she left many years before. What will happen now that she's returned, all new experiences under her belt and so many more changes to the island itself."

The characters in the commercial began to speak.

"The land bridge to the other island that appears when the tide goes down," The Liz on the screen turned toward the camera, looking away from the ocean, "If we were to cross, may the tide stay high forever." Liz turned back toward the ocean, a long black haired girl walked to stand next to her, a voice speaking out as she did.

"May she cross by herself and get caught in the waves."

A blonde haired boy walked up next, sitting next to Liz in the sand. Another voice rang into the ocean waves, "What would it take to make you stay?"

Lastly, a black haired boy began to walk towards the three, but stopped short without them noticing him. He turned back to the camera.

"Glad to see the waves brought you back."

Maka almost dropped her apple when she noticed who the black haired boy was.

"Kid?"

A roar of claps from a table of young staff workers made Maka flinch. She turned back to the television, which had forwarded to the time and title.

_Saturday at 7:00pm. 'Land Bridge.'_

_And that. That was definitely Kid. Looks like he dyed his hair all black then, since the famous three stripes were nowhere to be seen. _

Maka bit into her apple.

_He looks pretty good in a tank top._

_Did he tan? He looked more fit. Well I've never seen him in anything other than a suit or dress shirt so maybe he's always been like that. _

The clanking of a lunch tray next to her made her jump, her train of thought broken. Not that she minded being taken out of Kid love mode. She looked up to see a pair of glasses looking back at her. "If you finish your lunch ten minutes early today, than you'll get a head start at getting to the next scene of the photo-shoot. Though I'm sure you don't really care about that now do you?" The person straightened their glasses to the top of their nose.

"Nice to work with you again too Ox." He was working with her on another project and although during the shoot, he provided good support, he was utterly annoying outside of it all.

Ox looked up at the television and clicked his teeth. He walked over to the television and grabbed the remote, flipping the channel to DeathTV. Everyone groaned as he did.

"Hey!"

"Change it back!"

"Soul was on!"

Ox turned around and glared at them, "DeathTv will premiere Kim's day concert live in the next three minutes. I'd appreciate if you all ate in silence now." He returned to his seat while everyone whispered behind his back. He certainly wasn't keeping his hidden fandomness for Kim secret and if he thought it wasn't obvious, he needed a reality check. Maka shrugged, not at all troubled by the changing of channels. She had decided to leave it on the other channel simply because other people around her were enjoying it, so she had to persevere and retain her frustration. Ox's fandom ways were a blessing in disguise. He sat down and began to eat his lunch. She jumped when he pulled out a magazine from his bag. "After watching your career steadily grow for the past few weeks," he chewed down onto a tomato, "I have decided to share my knowledge with you."

Maka looked down at the magazine, which dated seven years earlier. Ox flipped it open to a dog eared page, which featured at least ten pages of the same silver haired model. Maka read out loud, "22 year old idol. Man of the month nine times in a row. Franken Stein." Maka flung back into her chair after she read the name. Stein. The Stein she knows. She looked back down onto the pictures of a younger Stein in a black turtle neck, smoking a cigarette. There was something about it that made her feel like she would be sucked in. If she had been shown this without actually knowing him, no doubt she would be added to his fan base.

Ox plucked the magazine out of her hands before she could flip the page to look more, "That's all for now. Knowledge cannot be attained all at once. Compared to Dr. Stein, you are nothing." The way he said it made her want to punch him in the face, but a part of her knew he was right.

Ox and Tsubaki were right. Sure, she had come a long way in the last two months, but she was just beginning. She was far from being at the top, which for some odd reason, made her even more excited.

"Maka! Make-up!"

Maka leapt up at the sound of the staff worker's voice calling her name, she quickly packed up her trash before dumping it into the break room trash can and running out. It was just beginning and it felt _wonderful_.

_**oOo**_

"You'll come right?"

Maka looked down at the piece of paper given to her by Liz, who had called her after getting her number from Tsubaki, and asked her to meet her at the café near the apartments. She read the tickets before answering, "Black Star's Live Concert? He came out with a new album?"

Liz gaped at Maka, then stopped, remembering, "Oh yeah! You didn't go to the party so you wouldn't know. But your guess is right on the mark. It's the first time he's gonna sing them live and Tsubaki had an extra ticket, so there you go." Liz pointed to the ticket and grinned.

"I'll go, but who else is all going?"

Liz looked at Maka confused, not sure why she would ask, "Why does that matter? It's gonna be a blast and since you missed the party, it's only right to go to the concert and give your support."

Maka shrugged, figuring she was wrong to even worry about Soul when Black Star was who she would be going for. "Of course."

Liz winked at Maka, and picked up her coffee, "I'm sure I'm not the only one who's psyched you're going." She chuckled, much to Maka's confusion.

* * *

**Am I the only one who missed the other characters? Such as Tsubaki and Ox. It made me happy to even mention Stein at all! So that's the end of this chapter, to which took first priority over other things that I must now rush to do. But do I regret it? Not at all. I like how it turned out, and finally getting all my thoughts together for this chapter made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. (By the way, I really enjoy advice on things to do at the bottom of chapters from you guys, unfortunately, I'm very clueless when it comes to things like that. So if you presented an idea to me before now, if you would elaborate for me in a message or comment, it would be well appreciated.)**

**As always, reviewing makes Soul and Maka Happy! (Soul really needs it the most right now!)**

**Thanks as always for reading!**


	17. To Love You

**Only two days went by in this chapter, but I felt the first day was already way past the length limit in which I first predicted, so I cut the last of the two days short, to be continued next chapter. I felt the need to finish this chapter first (instead of my other story's fourth chapter) because I already had it planned out in my mind. There's some Black Star in here for all of you Black Star fans (a lot more than I thought there would be, even though he's my top number one favorite, tied with Soul), and of course there's Soul in this chapter (gives you something to look forward to). Thank you for reviewing the last chapter guys, you're comments are what gave me some ideas for this chapter. **

* * *

_**Chapter 15: To Love You**_

"I don't understand! Why are you doing this?"

"Why am I doing this? You make it sound as if there's something wrong with me."

"There is, I can tell!"

"Just go home."

"I can see it! You love me, don't you?"

"…And what if I did? If I loved you, what would you do?"

"I'd say that I-"

A clicking sound stopped the sentence short.

"No!" A certain black haired individual gasped at the television in front of her, turning back to see the perpetrator of the crime, "Liz, you said I could watch it. There were five more minutes left!"

A sandy blonde flipped her hair back behind her shoulder with one of her freshly manicured hands, "I told you ten more minutes. Besides, I really don't get what you see in that sappy love drama, Tsubaki."

Tsubaki huffed at Liz, "She was going to answer him after six seasons!"

Liz pointed at the now turned off television scream in the living room and shouted, "He should've died when he fell into that ditch three seasons ago!"

Tsubaki gasped again, this time in more shock then before, now completely mortified by the words Liz had just uttered. They both continued to bicker on about how season six of the long running drama 'Beautiful Lover,' should or should not have been scrapped after they got engaged in season five. Maka, the innocent bystander, watched them. The three of them had decided to meet up in Liz's apartment, which had been on the fourth floor, just three floors underneath Maka's apartment. Apartment 416. Maka was at first shocked when she learned about Liz's whereabouts, then thought about how much she actually walked around the building when she was there, which got her thinking it wasn't impossible to miss Liz. Liz's apartment was modern, with wooden floors and beige walls, as if it was the standard in the apartment complex. Though now was not the time to think about these things. They had met in order to go to the concert together, and the bickering going on in front of Maka right now was hindering their progress, no matter how friendly a conversation it seemed to be. She stepped in front of the both of them, cutting off their argument, "It should have ended in season one when he kissed her."

Both Tsubaki and Liz stayed silent for a moment before Liz broke out into a laugh, Tsubaki chuckling after she did so. Liz reached into the bowl on the kitchen counter and grabbed her keys. She put her finger to her lips, thinking, "Maka's right, if it had ended there then I would've been satisfied." She walked over to the front door, still in deep thought. Tsubaki followed her after smoothing out her black spaghetti strap, V-neck shirt, which looked like a dress since it went a little further down their her hips. She had matched it with jeans that had slight rips in them. She threw on her leather jacket, making sure pull her hair, which was braided down her back, out of the way. She put on a pair of dark shades, hiding her face. Liz had the same idea, as she wore black as well. A black pair of skinny jeans and a lose black tank top that had loose fabric at the top that folded over itself with the words 'Star' in red block letters on the front, her hair slightly curled at the ends. She slipped on her red shaded glasses at the door, letting Tsubaki out first, who clanked by in her high heels. She turned back to Maka, waving a hand at her to come, "Let's go Maka!" She grinned at Maka and stepped out.

Maka, who felt less than adequate in her slightly frilled black dress that went a little bit above her knees, followed her. She had borrowed it from Liz, who promptly said it was a mini-dress; going up the middle of her upper thigh when she wore it. She had matched it with some white cowboy boots with black inlying designs and stitches on it. Her hair was combed straight by Tsubaki and curled at the ends by Liz. She felt done up despite not wearing any make up besides the clear mascara and light pink lip gloss. The long gray, white and black beaded necklaces she wore accentuated her outfit, which she didn't feel it needed though was a 'must' as Liz put it. She didn't bring any sunglasses, figuring she wouldn't be mobbed if someone saw her as Tsubaki or Liz would have been. She grabbed the gray leather jacket that Tsubaki let her wear before she stepped out. Tsubaki and Liz admired their work as Maka stepped out of the apartment. Tsubaki smiled and pressed her hands together, "Oh! It's so fun dressing you up Maka."

Liz laughed as she locked the door, tossing her keys up into the air as she walked to the elevator. Tsubaki pivoted, following behind, "You know, I agree. If it had ended where he kissed her, then I would have cried out of joy."

Liz snapped her fingers, looking back at Tsubaki, "Right Right! Exactly!"

Maka laughed as they continued on with the small talk and waited for the elevator to arrive.

_**oOo**_

The car ride there was uneventful. Liz drove with Tsubaki in the passenger seat and Maka sat in the middle of the both of them, crammed inside the three seater red pick-up truck that Liz acclaimed to as her 'baby.' Tsubaki had a smile on her face the entire time. If asked what they talked about, Maka wouldn't be able to answer and although she wasn't used to having an evening drive with a couple of friends, she didn't mind it at all. When they arrived at the Death City Central, Liz luckily got a parking across the street at a local mini-mart.

Maka pulled out her ticket as they got to the entrance, giving it to the one of the security men who was guarding the entrance. He didn't realize who Maka was, not at all surprising. Both Tsubaki and Liz got by without a hitch. The fans were loud with anticipation. The concert was going to start in thirty minutes and they were all trembling. Liz ran into the crowd, all the way through the bustling fans moving back and forth. Maka and Tsubaki pushed their way to the front, not at all keeping up with her but every now and then, they spotted a hand waving in the distance. When they arrived, Liz stood in the middle of the large group, completely doing the opposite of the people who all crowded to the middle area in the front. Tsubaki pushed Maka forward, who was tired of saying the word excuse me and was now just shoving people out of the way. A lot of them could care less, as their main focus was on the stage. As they got closer to where Liz was standing, the crowd started to thin slightly, however, it was still pretty packed. Liz laughed when they got there and yelled over the screaming of the crowd, "Took you long enough." There were not a lot of people here, much to Maka surprise, "The key is to get as close to the center as you can because at Black Star's concert, there are always people crowding in the front to look at his face. As long as you stand in the center, where the more sane people are, nobody is going to sucker punch you in the middle of it." Tsubaki got shivers behind Maka, as if reliving a memory in which Maka wanted no part in. She accepted Liz's words.

Liz chuckled, pointing at Tsubaki with her thumb, who was more than excited as far as Maka could tell. Maka breathed out, preparing herself for the 'awesome' that was Black Star. Five more minutes and it would start. Maka turned around and looked at the sea of people around them, all yelling as the lights began to change color, signifying that he was about to appear. People pushed back and forth rapidly now. If the center was, as Liz put it, less crowded, Maka didn't want to think about how it must have been in the front. She looked forward as the music began to play. Her heart raced as she saw the familiar blue hair come into view. Roars from the crowd, all screaming his name. It was almost unbelievable that he was the boy who always visited her on Saturdays, or just whenever he was bored and chilled in her apartment. Seeing him up on stage put the whole 'show business' in prospective for her. Here she was, in the sea of fans, and there he was, on the stage, commanding the attention of all spread out in front of him; sending shockwaves through the sea with every move he made. It was surreal, and he hadn't even begun to sing yet. Just his movements as he danced seemed to make everyone intoxicated. Liz screamed loudly as he began to sing.

The thumping of the bass and guitar did not make it harder to hear his voice, it cut through the crowd like a lightning bolt. It sent shivers down her spine to see him like this. His lips moved close to the microphone and she felt like running to him. Felt like running through the crowd, not caring who she had to hit to get there. She yearned for his voice, and so did everyone else. The screaming, the chanting, the repeating of lyrics as he sang, all of it melted together. All drowned out by his song. Tsubaki next to her smiled ecstatically. Liz, who from the beginning was calm enough, was jumping up and down, her arm in the air. Right now, it didn't matter who they were outside of this concert. Maka looked to Black Star again, who seemed to look back at her. Her heart froze, just him looking around the crowd had enough of an impact, but to see him look in her direction, even if it wasn't at her, made her skin hot. The song faded out, another tune following it up. If that was just one song, just four or five minutes long, an hour long concert was going to be even more heart-thump inducing.

Maka lifted her hands and yelled as loudly as she could before the crowd around her swarmed inward again.

"Black Star!"

_**oOo**_

Maka swayed her legs back and forth as she rested on the railing. Most everyone had left now since the concert ended around an hour later than it was supposed to, all due to a more than expected encore. Tsubaki came walking from the direction of the bathrooms, smiling as soon as she saw Maka. She looked as beautiful as ever and now, not caring if people recognized her or not, she had taken off her sunglasses. She backed up into the railing and hopped onto it, sitting next to Maka. "Well that was exciting." Maka grinned at Tsubaki, waiting for her response.

Tsubaki, who had been quiet ever since Black Star began his encore, bit her lip. Her eyebrows creased together as she looked down at her feet, worried, "He seemed odd after the second song during the encore." She turned to Maka swiftly, making her bangs flutter in the light wind, "What do you think Maka?"

Maka, who was too busy watching him move than listening to his voice, noticed the same thing, but had decided to put it off as him being tired. After all, he had danced an entire twelve songs, then had been forced to dance the next twelve songs again, for if he didn't it would have upset the fans. Despite him looking odd however, Maka knew that he was putting up with it, so she had decided to let it go. The fact that Tsubaki openly revealed her knowledge of when he feels tired made Maka's heart clench a bit, as if it was hard to breathe. Tsubaki knew Black Star personally much more than Maka had originally thought and if she wouldn't admit it bothered her, she'd be lying. She dismissed her thoughts against her good friend and put her finger to her lips, "Yeah, he was sort of odd wasn't he? But that's just Black Star for you. Bringing it up to him will only make things awkward." She turned to Tsubaki, who stared at her wide eyed before looking down at her shoes again, disappointed. Maka mentally smacked herself for saying that it was awkward to bring it up, "I mean, an awkward situation you know. I didn't meant to…" She stopped herself, noticing she was only making it worse. She winced as she looked down to her feet, taking an interest in her boots. She looked out of the corner of her eyes to Tsubaki, who flipped back her braid before smiling to Maka enthusiastically.

"That sure let out a lot of steam huh?" She stood from the railing, pumping her arms in the air happily, "Feels great!" She laughed as she turned to Maka, who was given a boost by her enthusiasm. Maka stood from the railing as well, patting off the borrowed dress. She took a stand next to Tsubaki and pumped her fists into the air in the same way she had, turning her head to Tsubaki slowly after she did, grinning widely.

"What's with you two?"

Maka and Tsubaki jumped at the voice only to find Liz standing behind the railing they once sat on; looking at both of them quite quizzically. She jumped the railing and you could see the grace she emitted as she showed Maka a display of her being light on her feet. "Kilik told me to meet him behind the stage. Are you guys going to come see Black Star or not?" Tsubaki pivoted quickly to follow Liz. Maka, seeing how enthusiastic her friend was, made her feel guilty about what she had said earlier. She ran up to Tsubaki, who was almost near the stairs up the stage that lead to back stage,.

"Sorry Tsubaki." She whispered as she climbed the stairs quickly. Tsubaki, who was halfway up the stairs, looked back at her, mouth parted as she processed what Maka had just said. Tsubaki smiled and nodded to Maka silently.

"Really now," Liz patted Tsubaki's back with a bit of force, "You can't expect me not to be curious." She grinned than began to push Tsubaki up the stairs. Maka smiled back at her.

_**oOo**_

_It's like meeting your idol and then forgetting to blink. Nerve-wracking._

Maka stood dumbfounded, slightly star struck from just seeing him on stage and then right after, seeing him face to face. He poured water onto his head, making the sweat on his face become nonexistent. His hair, which had remained spikey, was straight once more. Just like the day at the beach, which brought back quite a few memories Maka had rather remember alone than in a room with the very person. He turned his attention to Tsubaki first as she handed him a towel. Maka held onto her chest, trying to get the beating to stop.

_What's with me? Acting like a school girl with her first crush. It's just Black Star. _

Her heart calmed and her breathing returned to normal. She upturned her eyes to Black Star, not expecting him to be looking straight at her, which made her wonder exactly how long he had been looking at her. He laughed triumphantly, "You screamed the great mes name didn't you." He was teasing her, and she responded as how she usually would.

"You sure you weren't drunk off your own awesomeness?"

Black Star was stuck on her question for a moment before answering, "The great me was wrong?" He pondered it, wondering if he had heard correctly. The grin he presented her was no longer there, which made her think that maybe he was somehow happy she had yelled his name. She laughed.

"Of course I did. Don't doubt your greatness." She patted him on the back, a sort of friendly pat that was normal. Her heart remained steady, more to her pleasure. Black Star smoothed his hair back out of his face and grinned.

"To Trick the _Black Star_, how dare you!" He wrapped his arm around her neck and rubbed his fist on her hair. Maka half laughed half yelled as she struggled to get him off of her. Liz smacked Black Star's head, making his grip loose enough for Maka to escape.

"Surely he was just dreaming." Liz laughed at his antics. Tsubaki, who was worried about his hair drying unevenly, began to promptly dry it off with the towel. Maka didn't know where to look as she did so. It was awkward to even look at all. Black Star accepted the help like it was normal. Maka shifted her eyes away from the two, who were discussing small talk and laughing with each other. She turned to see Liz talking to one of the dancers. She shifted in her boots over to her, trying not to make it obvious that she was avoiding the situation. When she came within ear shot, she caught the last of Liz's sentence.

"-not here?" Liz looked down at her feet and bit her lower lip. Maka wasn't sure what had happened to make her look so dejected. She flinched and looked up when she felt a pair of eyes staring at her. They belonged to the dancer Liz was just speaking with; a guy with baggy white pants and a navy blue tank top, a lime green towel around his neck that was a bit wet with sweat. Liz's act of stomping on the ground made Maka jump, snapping her out of observance mode. "She's always on the move, I swear!" Liz hadn't even noticed that Maka had crept up next to her. "Hey! Weren't you-?" Liz turned and looked over her shoulder to see Black Star and Tsubaki in one of their moments, "Oh, I see." She laughed a bit at the disappointed, for whatever reason, Maka. She slung her arm around Maka's shoulder and made it her job to introduce the guy who stood in front of them at this very moment. "This here," she pointed her thumb at him, "is Kilik."

Maka made a non-verbal 'oh' with her mouth. This was the one that Liz had told her about.

"Narnia guy." She couldn't help but say it out loud which made him just that more curious about her, seeing as how he stared more intently now. He snapped his fingers, as if remembering something.

"Makato?"

Maka felt like crawling into a hole and hiding there until the Makato incident passed over. She rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed. "That's me."

The guy, Kilik, almost jumped back in shock, "whoa." He stared at her for a moment longer, "If I hadn't seen that last picture at the end of the section, I would've never thought you were a girl." He turned his attention to Liz, "You should be wary of her Liz, she's a pretty good actress." Maka started thinking this guy wasn't that bad, part of this was definitely due to the compliment he just gave her. While it was true that she didn't know how she felt about people remembering her as Makato instead of Maka, she was proud of her work and was thoroughly pleased when someone mentioned it. "I personally enjoyed that bit with Kid. You don't know how many laughs I got out of that one. And that one with DeathCityMetal fashion-" Maka found herself swaying back and forth with excitement as he told Liz how good of a model she was. She stared at him, not really paying attention to what he was saying, she felt like she had a fan, and she loved it.

Maka was nudged on the shoulder by Liz, who was grinning from ear to ear, most likely catching on to why Maka's mood was suddenly better. "Kilik," Kilik stopped talking as he voice was called from Liz's lips, "You know Ox don't you?"

The look on Kilik's face as soon as she mentioned Ox made Maka want to laugh triumphantly, though now was neither the time nor the place. The time was when she got back to her apartment and had some alone time. Kilik, who was enthused about the previous topic, became silent, looking at her with a sort of 'Why are you even asking? Trying to rub it in my face?' face. He scowled before answering, "Yeah. So?"

Liz laughed at him, pleased with his reaction, "Just wondering if you knew Kid's schedule. Ox had his manager to shadow this week and I've been wondering why he…well never mind." Liz laughed again, though this time, it was of slight embarrassment of the way her reason sounded. Kilik scratched his head, confused, still not getting why she stopped.

He answered anyway, "Yeah, I heard Ox talking about a late night talk show with Kim and Kid. Some nonsense about how Kid didn't deserve to stand by her, let alone talk to her." Kilik frowned, as if realizing exactly how much people must have labeled them as 'friends.' Maka could tell because the amount of staff who believed sincerely that Ox and Maka were the best of buds was too large to count. As if just talking to him constituted of you being his friend, since not a lot of people actually do. Maka felt a tug on her stomach.

_No. Ox is good guy._

She nodded to herself, thinking it wasn't so bad to be seen that way with Ox. She saw Kilik ruffle his hair in frustration, as if he just realized what she did.

_Great, now I feel obligated to make it up to him._

She grunted in frustration, gaining the raised eyebrow look from Liz and a meaningful glance from Kilik. She felt almost connected to Kilik on this issue and something was telling her he was just like Black Star.

He opened his mouth after a brief moment of silence, "You live in the apartments like everyone else right? Heard from Black Star that you live right below him. He sounded excited when he told me, what's he to ya?"

_Yep, straightforward, exactly like Black Star. _

Liz immediately got into the conversation, showing a more rumor drawn side of herself, "Oh, he was talking about you?" Maka looked at both at them, back and forth, as they waited for her answer. How was she supposed to answer anyway? She didn't know if she could call them just acquaintances. The day at the beach proved that. More than strangers. She paused.

_Is Black Star my friend?_

All kinds of questions ran through her head.

_Can we even be considered friendly to other people? I'm 'friends' with Ox, so I'm sort of friends with Black Star right? _

_What do I think of Black Star as?_

She bit her lip.

_What does Black Star think of me?_

She jumped forward from the sudden impact of a fist onto her shoulder. She turned around to find Black Star, spiky hair and all, grinning at her, "What's this? A conversation about the great Black Star?" Liz and Kilik looked at each other, not sure if they should tell him what the discussion was about. Black Star furrowed his brow, "Keeping secrets I see," He wringed Maka around the neck as he had done earlier, "Let's see how long that lasts." He laughed as he began to torture her. She panicked, seeking help from Liz and Kilik, who were at this point laughing from the absurdity in front of them. As for Tsubaki, Maka's last hope, she was chatting with the staff. Maka couldn't tell how Black Star looked right now, making her mind wonder again.

_We're friends. _

_Right? _

_**oOo**_

_Dammit, this can't be happening. _

Her facial expression didn't change as she put her apartment key back into her bag.

_Just a morning stroll._

_That's all I wanted. _

She huffed in anger.

_Can't even give me that can you?_

"Mornin'."

Maka's heart pounded in her chest, a single, large, thump. She readjusted her bag strap onto her shoulder. The celebration she went to with Black Star, Kilik, Tsubaki and Liz had made her get home late, but she had still ended up waking up early.

_Like a cruel twist of fate._

She twirled the ends of her loose, low, pigtails with her index finger, for lack of a better thing to do. "Morning Soul." She walked past, making her way to the elevator. The sound of his footsteps that didn't match hers made her become self-conscious. She didn't turn back as she reached for the elevator, not expecting a hand to reach out in front of her to press it first. The tingling sensation as he retracted his hand back, noticing what just happened, made her shiver. She felt the need to tap her foot, but didn't do so, making herself bounce in anticipation. She could feel him looking at her; either that or it was just paranoia. The elevator doors opened and she stepped inside, nothing at this point would save her from having to look at him. He slumped into the elevator, none the wiser to her inner battle.

The way he was dressed made it seem like he had no intention to leave the apartment complex, maybe just going to the fourth floor for the vending machines or something. His hair was still ruffled, as if he had woken up and not bothered with it. Maka cursed at how she liked it better that way. She stood in silence for a few moments, not knowing what to say. The elevator doors remained open, even though she had pressed the door close button. He obviously noticed her clothes, "Going out?" She flinched at his question.

She turned to look up at him. "Yeah." She looked away quickly, still trying to psych herself out mentally for when he starts to speak her name. She took a deep breath.

"I'm going up to Kid's." She looked at him again, sure of herself that she wasn't going to avoid him. He leaned over a bit; just enough to press the button for floor nine. The doors immediately closed, as if they had a preference for his choice rather than hers. The elevator began to move up. Maka tried to hold back a laugh at the fact that Kid, the lover of all symmetry, lived on the ninth floor. Soul looked at her sideways than smirked as if he understood what she was amused by. "No doubt he'll have a mental breakdown if you mention it to him. He's been trying to convince himself the lobby doesn't count as the first floor for years now." Maka could just see it, and couldn't hold back anymore. She let out her laugh and her muscles relaxed. Soul was being Soul.

She grinned this time, gaining a sly smile back, "How's show business?" The broadness of her question made Soul think for a moment.

"Just finished a shoot with Kid after his talk show. He said he hadn't watched that new drama of his that premiered on Saturday, thought I'd watch it with him." Maka smiled at how he didn't answer the question, but instead told her what he was doing the day before.

"That one with Liz?"

Soul turned to her, leaning against the side of the elevator as he did so, "Yeah, that new series, 'Land Bridge' right? He's been busy lately because of it; Liz has been nagging me about him too." Maka remembered how Liz asked Kilik about Kid's schedule and nodded in agreement. She knew she would be the same way though, if Soul suddenly got busy. She felt her face grow hot as she thought this.

_Why did Soul's name pop into my head?_

She ruffled the back of her hair indigently, trying to forget she ever thought it, "No work today?"

He shoved his hands in his pockets, "Nah."

The comfortable atmosphere Maka felt in the elevator made her feel better about waking up so early. Even if it was both comfortable and nerve wracking, she found herself enjoying the last moments of silence until the elevator reached floor nine.

Soul stepped out, turning to look back at her before he did, "Want to come along?" Maka felt her mind grow blank for a second before she registered his question.

"Oh, no," She clicked her heels together, "I'm good."

Soul looked down at her with his familiar red eyes, as if he were analyzing her body frame. He took his hands out of his pockets and clenched them, "See ya later then." He turned, waving his hand in the air as he made his way to Kid's apartment. Much to Maka's relief, he hadn't said her name the entire conversation. She pressed the lobby floor button.

Maka stared at him as she saw him standing in front of one of the apartment doors, getting ready to knock on it, as the doors closed. She felt good for a moment, then felt a tug at her gut, making her hand quickly shoot up to the open door button, "Soul!" She saw him turn his head just a little more than a centimeter to the right, towards her, when the doors abruptly closed. The elevator moved its way down, her hand was still raised to the elevator doors open button. She recoiled her fingers back and let her hand drop to her side. She grunted, rubbing at her hair furiously in frustration. She blinked a few times, slowly. The time seemed to go by quickly as the elevator reached the lobby floor. She stared out into the hallway, no one in sight except the security guards at the front doors. She willed her legs to move off of the elevator, but they shook and buckled. She bit her lip and within an instant, her body was in full going mode once more. She pressed the floor nine buttons quickly, almost fumbling to it. She wobbled back and forth as the elevator moved up, going as slow as it possibly could. She clenched her fists, hoping now one was waiting on floor five to get on. The elevator continued up and up, to the point in which, in the back of her mind, she questioned what she was doing. The elevator stopped, reaching its destination. She clicked the door open button over and over, feeling that it was taking forever. When the doors finally opened, she almost had a heart attack. "S-Soul?"

Soul was at the elevator doors, a look of desperation on his face as both of his hands were on either side of the elevator door frame. He stared at her wide eyed, then parted his mouth to speak, but Maka cut him off before he could, she couldn't stand the way he looked right now.

"Changed my mind," She smiled up at him.

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_**End of chapter fifteen! Yay. So I wanted to leave a cliffhanger, didn't want to continue past this just due to the fact that if I did, you would have a Soul and Kid mental breakdown (okay, maybe not that serious, but still). To the person who suggested making Maka drunk, I just couldn't do it! It was too hard to make her so….not Maka! But no worries, your idea will be used at a future date. **_

_**Thank you for reading, and as always, review to make Soul and Maka happy! **_

_**Tell me what you think.**_


	18. Doubt

**Guess What? It's here! The next chapter is here!**

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Chapter 16: Doubt

She looked at the passing names by the doors as they walked because it was better than looking at the person now walking next to her.

"Oh."

She quickly covered her mouth. She couldn't help but let out her voice after she saw the name 'Death the Kid' on the label plate next to apartment 904. She turned to look up to the person beside her, who yawned nonchalantly before returning the glance. He half smiled at her, not at all picking up on her nervousness, or rather, anxiousness. He lifted his hand up to the door and knocked three times in sequence. After doing so, he looked at her from his peripheral, and then grunted in frustration, "You're just asking him to do something." He lifted his arm to her head, making her reflexes move her head away. She didn't really want to get away from him, a rare thing she had been feeling recently. She just, her gut pulled her away.

She lifted her hand to her head and tugged at her hair, "What?" She frowned at him, trying to read his expressions, which didn't change as he clenched his fist and let his arm fall back down to his side. She felt her stomach clench, not liking what just happened. The door opened inward, revealing a slightly perturbed Kid.

He saw the taller of the two of them first, "Soul," that's when his eyes turned to the shorter one. His eyes widened, as if he didn't expect her in the least, "Maka." The way he said her name, almost inaudibly in fact, made her worried. She wondered if she was intruding a bit too much this time. He sighed then moved to the side, making way for them.

Soul went in first. "I'm coming in."

Maka couldn't help but laugh a bit.

_Obviously._

Maka stepped inside slowly, immediately catching the scent of fresh linen floating through the air. She slipped off her shoes at the door way, proceeding into the apartment in her socks. The floor was wooden and the walls white. A black three seater couch sat facing the set of long windows that covered the wall opposite the entryway. A single lounge chair sat to its left. The television stand in front of the couch featured just a medium sized flat screen on a low TV stand. The rest of the apartment was, for some reason, just as Maka had imagined it to be. Clean and neat. However it was at the same time, relaxed, something Kid was apparently not. He wore light blue, a bit loose fitting, jeans, however, he had on a white dress shirt. Then again, maybe this way of dress was him being relaxed. Maka clenched her purse straps.

_I don't really know that much about Kid. _

She felt like an intruder to the space and so she walked near the couch, not sure what to do, and stood in place, looking around curiously. Soul, instinctively acting like he owned the place, maneuvered past her and took a set on the couch's left end. He turned to look at Kid, who was in the process of rearranging their shoes, "So let's get to it." He yawned again, showing he was not very enthusiastic, and turned to the television, "Why can't you just watch it alone anyway?"

Kid walked over, a bit angry at his tone, "I don't get why the _two of you_ are here right now, but I'm not complaining now am I?" He took a seat on the rightmost side of the couch and picked up the remote on the coffee table. He began to click through his recorded list. Maka walked around the couch and placed her purse onto the coffee table. She looked to the couch, which now held a laid back, already sprawled out Soul, and a clean cut Kid on either side. Soul looked up at Maka, then picked up his left hand and did a motion for her to come over. She, almost giving into temptation, took a little less than two steps to the couch, then stopped herself. Stuck between her sort of friend sort of something else and a guy who has no idea what's going on.

_I'd rather not._

She pivoted and took a seat down in front of the coffee table, on the floor.

"What are you doing?"

She flinched and couldn't help but feel that the way Soul said that blew things out of proportion, as if he really took offense to her action. She turned to him, who now was squinting at her and was demanding explanation.

She frowned at him, "Old habits die hard." She turned to look towards the television once more, trying to calm her nerves.

"Maka." Her body shook.

_So much for trying to stay calm._

She turned around to find Soul holding up one of the pillows from the couch. She wasn't sure what he was trying to do when he suddenly tossed it to her. She caught it with a little difficulty and slipped it under herself. After looking back to the television, she noticed that even though the drama was selected, Kid hadn't played it yet. She turned to her right this time to look at him, "Kid?" He looked back at her and then diverted his eyes.

"I was just waiting for the lovebirds to finish their flirting." He pressed play on the remote control.

Soul immediately retorted, "If you thought that was flirting, you haven't seen anything yet." He smirked widely. Kid seemed a bit annoyed for some reason but still remained focused on the television. The opening for the drama started. Maka lifted up her knees to her chest and gripped them there. It was really good, but she wasn't able to focus on the story much. She was too busy paying attention to Kid's character. His skin was tanned a bit darker than Maka's and his hair was black; no sign of the three white stripes could be seen. He looked good. Really good. The white tank top that hung loosely on his skin and his baggy pants, sandals, it wasn't like Kid at all. She turned, finding Kid's glance on the television. She could still see some remnants of the tan on his neck and hands. Kid caught her glance and returned it. He spoke out loud in a cocky manner, "What?" Soul looked him now, wondering what was happening. Maka turned back around and huffed air out of her mouth in frustration.

_I like the fake Death the Kid better._

She could see Kid cross his legs in her peripheral; laying his hands on his knee.

_Much better. _

She turned her attention back to the television and bit her lip as two characters began to get a bit too close for comfort. She wasn't embarrassed about watching this scene alone, nor with Tsubaki and/or Liz, but watching it with Soul and Kid in the room with her wasn't really on her bucket list. She stood up from her seat on the floor, making Kid immediately pause the drama.

Soul breathed out, "What's wrong?" He seemed a bit concerned and on edge, as if he was bothered by the same thing she was.

Maka pointed towards the doorway that she saw held the kitchen. "Water." He parted his lips to say something but then closed them. Kid stood up from the couch now.

"I'll go with you." He tossed the remote to Soul and walked around the couch, Maka following behind him. She looked back to find Soul kicking back on the sofa once more. "Are you coming?" Maka flinched and turned forward, finding Kid in the kitchen, about to open one of the cabinets on the wall when he just stopped and turned around to face his body towards her. Maka raised her eyebrow.

"What?"

Kid huffed, "You really need to stop with the ugly faces." Maka, a bit stunned, narrowed her eyes. Like he was someone she needed to put on a pretty face for. She breathed out, calming down.

She walked up to the cabinet he was about to open, "In here?" She turned to find him just staring at her as if she was a doll on display. She retracted her hands and took a step back. "Alright, what is it?" He brushed her question off and reached for the cabinet; swinging it open. The kitchen itself looked as though it had never been used. Everything was in its rightful place and other than one single dishrag near the sink, it looked perfect. Maka couldn't help but feel as though it wasn't like him to leave things out like that. Kid had retrieved the glass he went looking for and then noticed that Maka was staring at the sink. He caught on to her inner thoughts.

"Black Star came earlier with a hangover. He said he needed something cold and then he just left it there. He didn't want to go to Soul's place apparently." He observed Maka for a moment longer before speaking again, this time in a nonchalant tone, "It looks like his girlfriend slept over. Soul's."

Maka's eyes widened. It seemed as though she wasn't the only one who knew about Soul's situation.

_Doesn't she always sleep over? _

Maka mentally slapped herself; she already told herself that she wasn't going to pay attention to that. Even though it bothered her, she would die before letting on about it doing so in front of anyone. Kid escpecially.

_He doesn't need another reason to dislike me._

Maka looked out of the corner of her eyes; finding Kid looking back at her. She furrowed her brow, "What is it? You keep glaring me down. Is it because I'm so beautiful? Can't take your eyes off me huh?" Kid laughed a little, or at least Maka thought she caught him doing so. She cracked a smile. At the very least, there wasn't a heavy air floating around him now. For the sake of getting rid of that tension, Maka was willing to become a Narcissist any day. He lifted the glass in his hand up to her which she took from him; watching his fingers as they slowly moved away from the glass.

"Maka."

Maka flinched, her attention now drawn away from making sure the glass wouldn't slip out of her fingers; she had almost dropped it. This was the first time that Kid had called her by her name. Or at least from what she could remember.

_Especially with that kind of voice. _

She stole glances back up at him, finding him looking away from her; nonchalant as always. That is until he realized that she was stealing glances at him. His mouth curved upward.

_No. No way. Not at all._

She wasn't sure why, but it seemed like he was actually happy. Kid. Death the Kid. Happy. Whatever was the reason, Maka knew for sure that it would somehow deal a blow to her confidence.

He continued to speak.

"Next time you come over, I would prefer you not bringing the guard dog."

Maka's jaw dropped open, making Kid scold her again. "How many must I tell you not to do that?" He looked away from her and sighed in frustration.

"What," Maka felt her voice stutter, "What do you mean by that?"

Kid raised his eyebrow at her; not getting why she had to ask. He moved forward from his leaning position on the counter behind himself and started to walk out of the kitchen. Maka set down the glass on the counter and followed him. For some reason, she couldn't help but find her feet moving her towards him; just as for some reason she reached out and grabbed his arm with her fingertips. To which, no pressure was applied, though he stopped immediately. He looked at her fingers around his forearm, than traced her arm all the way up to her shoulder, to her neck and finally they rested on her own eyes.

Maka, for the first time, could see exactly what people meant by the aura of a star. Sure, Black Star had dazzled her at his live but Kid. Death the Kid was in a different league. She felt unworthy as his eyes stayed still on her frame. She felt graced by his presence.

Who was she too demand anything from him?

He who stood so high beyond where she currently did.

She let her fingers fall from his arm.

_I'll ask him again._

She looked him dead in the eyes; which were unwavering and as emotionless as always. She felt her heart beat, just like when she saw Black Star up on that live stage, it pumped with excitement, anticipation, and anxiety.

_I'll ask him again once we're on the same level. _

_I will._

"What are you two doing?"

Maka's head turned quickly to the voice. Soul was looking at both her and Kid, confused as to why she looked so distressed; though he was sarcastic in his speech so Maka didn't notice his worry. "Didn't you go to get some water?" Maka looked down at her hands that were just clutching at Kid's arm; finding that no glass was in sight. She turned back to Soul.

"I changed my mind." Maka faked a laugh and returned to the living area. Kid followed behind her, taking his previous seat on the couch. Maka looked to the television now, which had been fast forwarded to a different part in the drama, "Hm? What happened?" She took a seat next to Soul on the couch.

"I watched it while you two went to the kitchen." In any other circumstance, Maka would have been angry but right now, she was glad that Soul did so. It saved her from the nervousness she would have had to experience. Soul readjusted himself on the couch, to which Maka noticed what she had just done. Soul was not even an inch away as he sat up straight on the couch. The very thing she had been trying to avoid, she walked into by herself.

_There's no way I can move now._

She noticed Soul was as calm and cool as ever, not at all bothered by their sudden closeness. Or at least to Maka, who couldn't handle sitting this close to him after him almost pinned her to her kitchen counter before. She felt like crawling away as fast as she could but she restrained herself. If she even showed the slightest bit of anxiousness, Soul would think something was wrong. So she just watched the drama. Well more like pretended to watch it. She couldn't help but pay attention to Soul who during the entire rest of the ten minutes of the episode, seemed as though he was inching closer to her.

_It's just my imagination. That's all. _

As the credits rolled, Maka stood up immediately, breathing out in relief. She heard Soul laugh behind her, "What's with you?" She felt a shiver run down her spine as his hand traced up from her fingers to her wrist and then stopped there. She held down a gasp and brushed him off, grabbing her purse instead of standing within an arm's reach of him. She looked over to Kid, who seemed to have no inkling to what was going on.

"It was really great, the next one is next week on Saturday right?" Maka actually had all kinds of questions to ask about the drama but she didn't want to impose in Kid in such a way; even though he probably wouldn't mind her doing so. She figured Soul was going to stay over so now was as good a time as ever to make her escape.

Kid nodded, "You may come over if you'd like. We have finished recording the first three episodes so I have another week off before I have to leave again." She could hear the frustration in his voice but mostly, she paid attention to the first part of his sentence. Maka walked away from the couch, deciding she would reject his offer from a distance rather than up close.

"Actually I think I'll just watch it at home. Thank you for the offer though." Maka bowed to both Kid and Soul, "I'm off." She turned to leave, stopping at the doorway to slip back on her shoes. She didn't expect the door she was opening to fling backwards, as if another person was opening it behind her.

Which was true, "Maka, I have a favor to ask." Maka turned to find Kid, whose face was uncertain.

"What is it?"

Kid spoke low, so as not to catch the attention of Soul, who was currently flipping through the channels on his television in order to find something interesting. "Though I do not want you to, would you check on Black Star? He did not seem well after he left. He's gone through worse but for some reason I cannot help but wonder if something else happened to him." Maka assured him with a nod, which he returned.

"Wait, but why would you not want me to go but still ask me?"

Kid began to forcibly push her out the door, "It does not matter."

"Hey, Kid. Wait," He shut the door as soon as she was outside, not sparing her another look at him. Maka frowned, annoyed with him.

_Argh, what's with that? First he asks me to come over again. Then he even asks me for a favor. Then! After he asks me and I agree to it, he pushes me out and shuts the door in my face. I swear, Black Star's not the one who needs looking after. _

She huffed as she rubbed the back of her head, making her hair fluff up at her touch. She stood in front of the door a moment longer before frustration took her over once more. She punched the air with her free hand; her other hand was still supporting her purse. She did so three times before she felt that all of her anger was vented. She turned to make her way to Black Star's apartment and bit her lip.

_I saw him yesterday and he seemed fine. He even pulled off his usual antics without a hitch. Wonder what's going on. _

_**oOo**_

Maka knocked on the door to Black Star's apartment, 808. She waited but there was no response so she knocked again.

_Really Black Star? Do you go out partying or something? _

Maka jiggled at the handle of the door,

_I knew there was nothing wrong._

However, she did not expect the door to be open as she messed with the knob of it. She wasn't sure whether to freak out or stay calm. She entered the apartment, deciding to be the latter of her choices. It was an exact replica of her own apartment. Except the living room was slightly bigger, and it seemed to have two rooms instead of just one. She slipped off her shoes and walked on into the apartment in socks; she felt it was appropriate for her surroundings to do so.

"Black Star?" She called his name but there was no response so she made way into the living area.

She felt comfortable and she finally understood why Black Star knew where the bathroom was when he first visited her apartment. She focused her eyes on the large bundle of cloth wrapped up in the living room and stepped forward to investigate. Her eyes widened as she realized what it was but then she got over her surprise.

_This guy...he really needs to be more careful. _

Maka huffed at the sight in front of her. The Great Black Star, huddled in blankets like a worm on the floor. His blue hair that poked out of the blankets told her that much without having to actually touch him. She bent down and set her purse on the floor, then proceeded to rip the blankets from him. She laughed when she heard him grunt as she did so. Series of moans came from him, especially as she struggled to get the last series of blankets away. She found this side of him amusing. It was a side she had rarely, if at all, had seen. She felt her heart jump when she got a better look at his face.

_I really wish his hair was naturally spiky. _

Black Star's hair was straight, his bangs disheveled on his forehead and the rest of his hair ruffled from the fight for the blankets from earlier. She couldn't stand it when his hair wasn't spiky; it made it hard to act normal around him.

_Not that I have a fetish for straight hair. I like Soul's hair too…Argh! What I am thinking?_

Maka stood up from her crouching position on the floor and looked down at the uncovered Black Star who lay in front of her. She kicked him, not enough to injure, but enough to stir him from his sleep.

"Hey, Black Star, why aren't you in bed?" She kicked him again and he grunted as he flipped onto his side, away from her, and covered his face with his forearm. Maka let out a single sarcastic laugh before leaning back over again and grabbing his arm, dragging him towards what looked like the bedroom. His eyes remained shut as she did so. When she finally dragged him into the other room, she spotted a futon in the middle, so she just dropped him onto it. He sniffled and clutched at the pillow like a baby. Maka breathed out, calming herself as she spoke again, "Hey, Black Star. What's wrong with you? Do you want me to coddle you till you feel better?"

Maka meant it as a joke to lighten the mood but for some reason it caught his attention. His eyes slowly opened and he looked up at her from his position on his futon. He stare was relentless as his eyes pleaded with her to do as she had said. She immediately corrected her words once she realized that he took her seriously, "I was joking." His head sank back down into his pillow. She bent down and gave him a pat on the back, "Do you need some water? Kid told me that you drank a lot last night. You really shouldn't be sleeping in the middle of the living room you know? The best thing to do is drink some warm milk, sober up and sleep it off."

Black Star looked up from his pillow, which made Maka happy since he was finally responding to her. He gave her a small grin; mostly because he was amused by the rant she had just gone on about his health. He lifted his arm from his pillow and rubbed his head. "Hey?"

She flinched and stopped patting his back; the small gesture in order to make him talk to her was regretted as she felt his warmth linger on her fingertips. He was acting weird and it made her stomach do flips each time he shifted his position on his futon. She folded her hands onto her lap, in order to stop her rampant thoughts, and began to intertwine them, "What?"

He sat up now, adjusting himself on his futon, "Have you heard Soul's new song?" Maka furrowed her brow, confused. Why in the world would that matter? Does that have something to do with what's bothering him? Why did he sound so unsure of himself? Had she heard it he asked? Well,

_No, I haven't. _

"No." She voiced out her thoughts. Maka never really did keep up with the music charts; she had her sights set more on magazines, the history channel, and variety shows. The look on Black Star's face didn't change after she said her answer; it was a blank expression that had no real power behind it.

"It's amazing," he let his head fall back down onto his pillow and he closed his eyes. "There's no way. There's no way I can top it. It's too much. Overwhelming. Fear of failing. I can't sing after hearing it. Can't bring myself to anymore." Maka's eyes widened. Black Star didn't want to sing? The very Black Star who made her heart race with his voice; made her excited and nervous at the same time. Enough to yell out his name. The very effect of him saying that he couldn't sing made Maka's anger rise within her. Not wanting to sing. Saying words like 'can't' and 'don't' were not like him at all. She hated it. She hated this side of him. The side that gives up too easily. No longer did she feel sorry for him. She stood up and clenched her fists.

"Hey! What do you mean you don't want to? You can't top it? You're the great Black Star. The almighty. Get off your ass and get to making some songs if you feel so pathetic. It only means that you need to get even better!" She waited for a response from him but his eyes just lingered on her figure, unwavering in his decision. She continued, "How would all of your fans feel? You'll be letting down yourself and them!" Still no response. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone then began searching through her contacts.

Black Star sat up again, "What are you doing?"

She looked down at him, her eyes narrowed into a glare, "I'm calling Tsubaki to come see your pitiful self." Calling Tsubaki was like ordering his medication. Even though she had only seen them together on a few occasions, she felt that if anyone could do something, it was Tsubaki. She was the pacifier to the baby that was Black Star. Maka turned to walk out of the room but something grabbed her leg before she could move. She turned to find Black Star gripping on her calf. She shook her leg but he still wouldn't let go. "Black Star!"

"Don't call her!" He yelled, sternly. It was the first time she had heard him like that. His eyes were frantic, wild, as if his hand on her leg was his last lifeline. She didn't want to acknowledge it, but she sensed something behind his statement. He lowered his head, his body trembling, "I only need you, Maka." Maka's eyes widened and she felt her anger subside a bit. She nodded.

"Alright, I won't call her." She started to punch letters into her phone; this caught Black Star's attention again.

"What are you-?"

"I'm texting her." Maka pressed send and looked down at him, who was in utter disbelief at her. It was for his own good. She didn't feel like she was helping. If she had known that it would have escalated this far, she would have just called Tsubaki to come over in the first place. But now was not the time for regrets. She breathed out as the message confirmed being sent.

_Kid sure picked the wrong person for this. _

Maka felt a force yank her down by her leg. Her body twisted towards the force and she landed on her butt, the floor was soft, but not soft enough to cause her not to feel pain upon impact. She opened her squinted eyes to find her face just an inch away from Black Star's, his breath tickled her skin and his face was much too close for comfort. His eyes looked at her, now serious, "You said you wouldn't."

She fought back against her voice which wanted to stutter, "I said I wouldn't call." He scooted away from her and reached for the phone in her hand; opening it and checking her messages. She playfully kicked him, "You can't delete a sent message silly." His eyes turned back to her. For a second, she saw a flicker of his usual playful face. She decided that taking the carefree route was the best idea. She parted her lips to speak again when a series of knocks came from the front door. "Tsubaki got here fast." She looked back to Black Star, who at this point had given up on the idea of not seeing Tsubaki. She got up and made her way to the front door. She was surprised when loud bangs came from the other side right when she was about to open it.

Once she did, she once more regretted coming over to Black Star's apartment.

_So much for the carefree plan._

"Maka?" He questioned her as if it wasn't her name. She stepped aside and hand gestured for him to enter.

"Soul." She said his name back to him, but not in question form, more of a sarcastic statement. He remained silent as he walked in, much to Maka's surprise. He didn't even inquire as to why she was there. She felt a bit lonely because of this. Her heart clenched at the thought of him not minding. She stopped her thoughts again.

_Argh! Now's not the time to be like this. Just be normal. Normal. _

She steadied her breathing as she walked behind him into the living area. When he saw the door to Black Star's room closed, he turned to Maka, which was when she noticed that the distance between them had closed by at least three inches since they first met. It was a weird thing to realize now but for some reason, she couldn't help but have her mind wonder. It bothered her that he was so nonchalant now about closing the distance between them when to her each centimeter called for a moment to steady her heart rate. "Mind if I have a talk with him?" Maka's lips parted as she contemplated on how to answer. She nodded yes, not wanting to stutter and show him her nervousness. He walked near the sliding door and began to open it.

"Wait, Soul. There's a problem with Black Star-" Before she could finish, Soul was smirking at her with his usual toothy grin.

"Yeah," he laughed, "I know." He walked into the room and she watched his back disappear as the sliding door closed behind him.

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**There was a fight scene but I took it out because it wasn't that good! Ah the punches were flying. Just thought I'd mention that so you guys could imagine that and give me ideas! Thanks for hanging in there with me. Reviews are what help me get these chapters out here (no lie, the last review I got for this story motivated me to finish this LONG chapter that had so many complications it wasn't funny.) **

**Thanks again to all readers of Wonderful Nightmare! Don't be a silent reader! Tell me what you think!**

**Review!**


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